The Rwanda Natural Resources Authority concluded the demarcation and adjudication process of land across the country, with the month of June.
The was said by Engineer Didier Sagashya, the authority’s Deputy Director in charge of land and mapping, who said that the process was duly completed within the stipulated timeframe.
“We have registered 10.3 million parcels of land all over the country and what is remaining now is the completion of issuance of land titles,” he said.
Initially land demarcation and adjudication was set for completion by June this year and the issuing of land titles is set to be finished by December 2013.
In 2004 the government established a national land policy that would guarantee a safe and stable form of land tenure. Before 2004 Rwanda had never had a proper land policy.
In order to define and decide how the land registration process should be carried out, a Ministerial decree determining modalities of registration was enacted in 2008 and consequently in 2009 land registration process kicked off.
Sagashya stated that out of 10.3 million parcels registered, 10,600 families with land wrangles have been recorded in the book dedicated to land disputes.
“We shall wait for these people to agree on who has the right to land either through mediators or courts before the land is registered on them,” he said.
“If land disputes are resolved, the right owner of the land presents a court order to us in order to register their land.”
Most of the land conflicts encountered are largely among family members where they fail to agree on sharing their piece of land most especially people living in polygamous families.
Sagashya said that they have printed about four million land titles and 1.6 million have been issued to the owners.
One of the benefits of the land registration is efficient, transparent and equitable system of land administration where people use their own land as a security to a quire loans from banks among others.