Tanzania: ... All Land Plots to Be Legally Owned

By Daily News Reporter in Dodoma

SEEKING do away with land conflicts and facilitate both village and town planning, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), pledges to ensure that all pieces of land are legally owned.

According to the party's 2020-2025 election manifesto, the coming CCM's government if elected by

wananchi on October 28, this year, will ensure a total of 2,500,000 plots are registered in urban areas and 2,600,000 village plots are owned through village title documents, which are legally recognised.

The 303-page document was unveiled last Saturday at Jamhuri Stadium in Dodoma along with official launching of the party campaigns ahead of the general election.

According to the manifesto, the coming government will ensure proper land allocation and use in the coming five years. It states that the surveying, registration and legal ownership of land will enable the owner to utilise the area for both economic and social development.

"This exercise will enable the public to make good use of land by engaging in various economic activities. This will bring economic revolution and boost the government revenues," reads part of the document.

Moreover, the manifesto states that in recognition of investments in the country's economic growth, the government will allocate enough land, purposely for investors, who are interested in establishing major investment in the country.

The move will go in line with allocating enough funds for compensating wananchi, who might be needed to re-allocate from their areas for investment or other crucial development projects.

The document also revealed that the coming government will come up with a new housing and human settlement development and set strategies that will ensure wananchi are capable of building modern houses in both urban and rural areas at a low cost.

The manifesto also promises that in the coming five years, the government will develop a database for all houses across the country and ensure there is a good relation between tenants and landlords.

According to the manifesto, the coming government will make sure the exercise is inclusive and that various stakeholders will be involved. Moreover, the government will ensure the procedures for establishing the housing supervising body is completed.

The body will be responsible for overseeing and coordinating rent for business and residential buildings, business related to land, tax payment, registration of brokers and agents as well as keeping data and references related to land and housing businesses.

According to the manifesto, the fifth government played a big role in ensuring improvement in the land and housing sectors in the past five years. It states that between 2015-2020 a total of 1.5bn/- was provided to public servants in terms of loans for building houses.

Also the number of banks that provide mortgage loans was increased from three in 2015 to 32 in 2020. Moreover, the interest rate for housing loans has gone down from 10 per cent in 2015 to 6 per cent in 2020.

The manifesto also explains that in the past five years, at least 40,354 land title deeds and other legal documents were handed to wananchi in various parts of the country.

Also 863,474 title documents for wananchi in rural areas in various councils across the country. Also at least 1,382 village title documents were used as a guarantee for acquiring 1.6bn/- loans from various financial institutions including banks.