The Minister of Environment and Natural resources, has called on land owners (land title holders) to value their land as it’s an opportunity to improve their standards of living.

Stanislas Kamanzi made the call on Wednesday while officiating at the handover of 4,036 land titles to residents of Shyorongi, Rulindo District.

He said that that land registration programme currently going on across the country is a government’s strategy to spur economic growth.

"In the past, land would not be given value or seen as another means where Rwandans could get profits from if developed,” said Kamanzi.

"It is in this reason the current government had to revise a law on the management of land use”.

Kamanzi told residents that the land titles can be used as a security when seeking loans from banks, adding that land registration reduces land conflicts.

The Minister also called upon local authorities in charge of land registration to always consider registering land belonging to orphans as they are always left out.

The Mayor of Rulindo, Justus Kangwage, revealed that 95 percent of cases recorded before the exercise began were connected to land conflicts

According to the ministry, there are 8m plots in the country and so far over a million plots have been registered since 2009.  The exercise is expected to be completed in 2013.

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