FOREIGNERS MAY SOON OWN LAND IN TANZANIA

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Dr Moses Kusiluka.

Foreign real estate developers will now be allowed to own land in Tanzania where they can construct buildings for sale, should the new National Land Policy come into enforcement, replacing the land policy of 1995, the ‘Daily News’ can reveal.

Under the current arrangement, foreigners are not allowed to own land in Tanzania but are granted ‘durative rights’ to have access to land for investment through the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC).

Speaking in an interview with this paper on Sunday, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Dr Moses Kusiluka, said the new policy seeks to embrace changes which have emerged in the land sector.

“There have been a lot of changes since the land policy was endorsed in 1995; the new policy will address all these challenges and put in place new mechanism for land administration and management in the country,” Dr Kusiluka explained.

The Acting PS explained that the current land policy discourages foreign real estate developers because they are not allowed to own land. “The proposed policy will therefore enable them (foreign land estate developers) to have tittle deeds to the land after which they can sell their houses on the open market,” he explained.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam last week, the Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Mr William Lukuvi, said it was high time the policy was changed to accommodate changes in the land sector.

“The government finds it appropriate to amend the policy to improve land administration and management in the country,” the Minister explained.

Mr Lukuvi made the remarks while officiating at the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE) conference 2017 hosted jointly by the Tanzania Institution of Valuers and Estate Agents (TIVEA) and Institution of Surveyors of Tanzania (IST).

The Minister explained that with the new policy the government seeks to survey and plan the entire 948,000 square kilometres in Tanzania and allocate land for various purposes such as industries, agriculture and residential areas.

The envisaged new policy, according to the Acting PS, will as well put in place requirements to have land officials at village level in order to curb land conflicts and rampant selling of land.

“Village land in Tanzania accounts for about 70 per cent of all land and yet the villages lack professional land administrators; this has led to land disputes and rampant sell of land in villages,” Dr Kusiluka explained.

The Acting PS was positive that the new policy will play a crucial role in addressing land disputes and put in place proper mechanism for land compensation.

Before drafting the policy, Dr Kusiluka said the ministry gathered views from stakeholders countrywide, explaining further that the document now awaits endorsement from a meeting of permanent secretaries and finally the cabinet.

Daily News