Special groups canvass for real policy dialogue

My Legacy executive director Fortunata Temu said at a wide ranging dialogue on housing, land and property rights for women, youth and persons with disabilities that the non-governmental organisation ‘My Legacy’ organised, that the stakeholders need to strengthen public awareness on the matter.

“There is a need for addressing issues involving human rights, land ownership and involvement of women, youth and PWDs,” she said, making a contribution on laws related to electoral laws reform.

She said that land ownership laws should be reviewed to ensure that they include the rights of women, youth and people with disabilities, urging that civic groups conduct awareness raising campaigns on entrepreneurship.

The groups need to understand how land occupancy or ownership is a potential source of income, pointing out that due to scarcity of land, this group faces challenges due to cultural norms and traditional beliefs which entitle men to clan land, not women.

Those excluded from access to land are locked in a cycle of poverty which calls for collaborative efforts to address, she stated, pointing at the Land and Village Land Act of 1999 as vesting all land in the president as trustee for and on behalf of all the citizens.

She said that currently, Tanzania faces numerous challenges related to land ownership especially in rural areas, citing conflicts between farmers and pastoralists, tenure disputes and taking land away from peasants by public agencies.

It is high time for policy and legal reform efforts that pay attention to the voices of the poor, increasingly demanding inclusion in the policy process with little success, she said.

Bashangazi Selemani, who runs an NGO based at Kipunguni on the southward reaches of the city of Dar es Salaam, said the NGO recommends that the government engage in policy dialogues with stakeholders.

Through public policy debates, differences could be sorted out in local government policies and practices by taking into consideration expectations of women, youths and those living with disabilities.

There is a need to ensure that policy making organs clearly indicate that ruling on land disputes that fail to consider gender issues will be deemed null and void, the activist stated.