LTSP aims at supporting a more transparent, efficient and better resourced land sector and ensuring that current and future demand for land leads to beneficial and equitable outcomes for Tanzania’s rural populations.
This was revealed here this week during an awareness and sensitization meeting on LTSP to councillors, ward executives and other village leaders.
They said the government should intervene because there were unresolved disputes which had lasted for years despite efforts to resolve them.
A councillor for Biro ward, Ernest Ndangwe, said the government should first resolve boundary conflicts among villages which have lasted for many years before starting implementing the project.
He said lack of clear land ownership had resulted in conflicts among villages.Ndangwe cited a boundary dispute between Biro village and Mbalinyi village, saying it hadlasted for about ten years despite efforts to resolve it.
“We have tried to resolve this dispute several times but our efforts have proved futile due to personal interests …we call upon the government to intervene and resolve it so as to allow people to benefit from the new project,” he said.
Another councillor, Kindojo Kilumba of Ilonga ward, said land boundary conflicts have been affecting development in their areas because they had taken long to resolve the disputes.
He said in his ward two villages, Chigandugandu and Iputi, were in conflict due to unclear boundaries between them.
Kindojo said efforts made to resolve the conflict proved futile, thus called on the ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development to assist in resolving it.
“Village and municipal leaders have worked to resolve the dispute but failed, thus the ministry of Lands should now intervene to settle it,” he said.
He said it would be difficult for the project to be implemented in the area if the dispute remained unsettled.
Opening the meeting, Ulanga District Commissioner Christina Mjema warned village leaders who fueled land disputes in their areas to stop immediately and ensure that all land boundary conflicts among villages were cleared.
She said there were villages in her district disputing over boundaries, ordering them to find ways of resolving them if they were to benefit from the programme.
Mjema said the project was crucial for the development of the district because it will also help to minimise land disputes through land certification.
“Sometime the disputes occurred because people lacks title deeds but of the villagers will be provided with the ownership certificates they will be safe and use them for development purpose such as accessing loans from financial institutions,” Mjema said.
Meanwhile at least 300,000 title deeds will be issued to the villagers in Ulanga and Kilombero districts under the Land Tenure Support Programme (LTSP) being implemented as pilot project in the two districts.
According to the programme coordinator Godfrey Machabe, the project aim at supporting a more transparent, efficient and better resourced land sector and eensuring that current and future demand for land leads to beneficial and equitable outcomes for Tanzania’s rural populations.
Speaking here this week during a sensitisation and awareness meeting to councillors, ward executives and other stakeholders from Ulanga district, Machabe said that the programme will also help to minimise land disputes between farmers, pastoralists and other users among them investors.
He however noted that the issuance of title deeds will not include areas which have been declared as townships instead such areas will be surveyed through a special system which will be prepared under the programme.
Machabe said that a total of 92 villages in Ulanga will benefit from the programme while in Kilombero 105 villages will be reached by the programme.
“The programme will also help to improve and sustain policy and institutional issues so as to have common understanding on policies, laws, and procedures on land issues. It will also strengthen performance and communications between institutions and improve management of land disputes,” Machabe said.
Machabe added: “Through this programme transparency and benefits from investment contracts in big farms will increase through a proper system of land ownership and best way of dividing profits from land investments.”
He however noted that the programme which will be implemented for three years starting this year is expected to cost USD 15.2 million which will be provided as grant by development partners.
“Development partners who have funded this project include UK government through Department for International Development Agency (DFID), Denmark through Danish International Development Agency and Sweden via Swedish International Development Agency,” Machabe said.
For his part, Team Leader- Land Tenure Support Programme Swagile Msananga said that through the programme the government will have a data base of the lands from 50 acres and above which have been surveyed and those which have not been surveyed.
He added the government will repossess unused land so that it can be used by its institutions or redistribute to farmers.
“We are going to start collecting data next month on status of land investment in the country and identify all farms with 50 acres and above which have been abandoned to that it can be used for other economic activities,” he said.
He said the work of identifying the farms will start in the Eastern Zone which includes Morogoro and Coast Region and then the team will proceed to other regions.
Msanaga noted that all procedures and laws governing lands will be observed if the government will decide to reposes undeveloped land for its uses.
Juliana Pilla Assistant Commissioner of Lands East Zone said that the plan to list and identify all idle land meant to ensure that it is used by government institutions or being redistributed to farmers.
“There are some people who have been given lands for agriculture or livestock keeping but they have abandoned it thus the government want to ensure that such land is used for other development activities… the government is also working on the possibilities of allocating these lands to the villages where the population is high
and they need more land,” she said.
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