05 August 2009
Men and women across Rwanda will be able to officially claim their right to land for the first time through a major new UK-funded project launched today, ending a source of violent conflict and dispute.
The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide £20 million to set up a nationwide registration programme to help all Rwandans agree their legal ownership rights.
Disputes over land rights contributed to the conflict in Rwanda that sparked the genocide. As well as solving disputes, this project will allow landowners to prove their ownership so they can raise loans to buy cattle and seeds or rebuild their homes.
The genocide in 1994 left many widows across the country looking after their families. Following equal inheritance rights for men and women granted in 2005, this project will give Rwandan women their first chance to legally prove their ownership of land. They will now be able to pass it on to their sons and daughters without fear that it will be taken from them.
Over the next two years, staff from the Government of Rwanda’s National Land Centre will travel to every town and village to recruit volunteer committees to investigate local land claims. Using satellite imaging and speaking directly to the landowners themselves, they will draw up comprehensive land tenure maps for the whole country.
To avoid any further disputes over claims, maps will be published and local people will have one month to raise any concerns. A public hearing will weigh up conflicting claims.
This project follows a three and half year pilot programme funded by DFID that tested the land registration method. During a trial, only five per cent of land rights were disputed.
This information will then be collated into the first ever national database of land ownership in Rwanda. The project should be completed by 2014.
International Development Minister Mike Foster said:
“Owning their own land can transform a poor farmer’s life but many Rwandans have no way to prove what they own, making it too easy for others to take land away from them.
“For the first time, men and women in Rwanda will be able to defend their land rights through the law courts, giving them the peace of mind to invest in their farms and build their businesses.”
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