A new plan dubbed Land for Equity Policy that would enable landowners to acquire at least 25 per cent stake on projects undertaken on their land by local and foreign investors is in the pipeline, the National Assembly heard.
Deputy Minister for Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Mr Goodluck ole Medeye
“The draft of the policy now awaits to be presented to the Cabinet for approval,” Deputy Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development Godluck Ole Medeye, revealed while responding to a basic question by Special Seats MP Zarina Madabida (CCM).
The MP had expressed concerns that landowners countrywide are paid less for their land and proposed that there should be a partnership between the owners and potential investors.
She also proposed that the government should come up with a legislation to protect land owned by the locals, particularly in rural areas. In his response, Mr Ole Medeye said the policy seeks to enforce the Public Private Partnership Policy and Public Private Partnership Act of 2010.
The Deputy Minister also quoted the National Economic Empowerment Policy of 2004 which stresses that the government would use land to guarantee citizens’ participation in the country’s economy.
“The aim of this policy is to ensure that the people either use their land to acquire shares in any investments to be made on their land or use it to earn incomes through other economic activities,” Mr Ole Medeye explained.
The Land Equity Policy is expected to benefit individual land owners, villages as well as district councils and central government, according to the Deputy Minister.
He went on to add that the government has no plans of enacting legislation to protect land since it believes the Village Land Act number 5 of 1999 serves that purpose.
“The challenge ahead of us is proper enforcement of existing policies and legislations in order to protect land owners be it individuals or village authorities,” he noted. Mr Medeye urged responsible parties to respect village authorities in land management to avoid land conflicts between various land users.
Responding to a supplementary question by Special Seats MP Rita Kabati (CCM) later, the Deputy Minister urged financial institutions to recognize Customary Land Titles as they are recognized by law.
“The financial institutions should also understand that unlike general land leasing system which has a limit of 33, 66 or 99 years, land owned under customary tenure has no limit,” the Deputy Minister explained.
In her question, Ms Kabati had complained that the Customary Land Titles are hardly recognized by financial institutions when land owners want to access credits.
Source Tanzania Daily News