The use of technology and waiving of some fees are the main contributors to improvements registered in land services in the fiscal year 2023/2024, according to Rwanda Governance Board (RGB).

RGB chief executive officer Doris Picard Uwicyeza made the observation, on October 27, as she presented RGB’s activity report for the same financial year to a joint plenary sitting of Parliament.

ALSO READ: Electronic land certificates will curb frauds - NLA

She said that RGB, among other activities, carried out an assessment of land service delivery in 13 districts, including three in the City of Kigali, six districts that have secondary cities, and other districts where citizens’ satisfaction with land service was low. The assessment covered 92 entities including National Land Authority (NLA), the City of Kigali, districts, sectors and cells, and interviewed 2,228 people who requested the services, she pointed out.

Its findings showed that citizens were satisfied with land registration at the rate of 75.39 per cent, issuance of construction permits at 76.72 per cent, and land ownership transfer – or title transfer – service at 75.76 per cent.

"The assessment of land services indicated that the level of citizens’ satisfaction with these services is increasing compared to previous years. We realised that this is mainly attributed to the government’s policy to waive some of the fees that were required during land subdivision and title transfer, as well as the fact that many land services are currently offered by means of technology – online services,” Uwicyeza said.

For instance, according to RGB’s report for the fiscal year 2020/2021, land service survey results showed that citizens were satisfied with them at 69.39 per cent.

ALSO READ: Rwanda to deploy new system for improved land services

The 2020/2021 report indicated that some of the issues exposed by the survey include lack of compliance with the period set for land service delivery [implying delays], and inadequate technology use which derailed service provision.

In 2023, the government of removed a Rwf30,000 flat land ownership transfer fee (which included a physical title deed issuance), which citizens and parliamentarians said was a challenge for people who had low-value plots, especially in rural areas. The fee applied to the transfer of land ownership by sale, by donation, and succession.

ALSO READ: Government waives fees on over 10 services

However, the property tax law of 2023 introduced tax on the sale of immovable property, including land in case the value is over Rwf5 million.

According to the law, a rate of 2 per cent is levied on the sale value of an immovable property for commercial use if the seller is a taxpayer registered for income tax; while a rate of 2.5 per cent is levied on the sale value of an immovable property sold by a person not registered for income tax. It stipulates that the tax is levied on the balance of the sale value of the property after a deduction of Rwf5 million which is not taxable.

Rwanda continues to scale up online land service delivery.

In August 22024, Rwanda Land Authority announced that services including land subdivision, merging, area correction, and registration or splitting of condominiums are accessible through Irembo – the e-government services platform. Applications for such services will no longer be made through paperwork.

The development took the number of land services offered through Irembo to nine. Previously, the platform offered services including loan agreement authentication, change of land use, title details update, sporadic registration, and title transfer.