US $55m for land registration exercise

The National Land Centre (NLC) has revealed that the 3-year National Land Adjudication and Demarcation exercise will cost US $ 55m by the time of the national procedure is finished in 2012. The funding for the Systematic Land Registration will be provided by DFID, the Government of Rwanda, Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the European Union and IFAD. While addressing journalists, NLC’s Director General, Dr Emmanuel Nkurunziza said that the national exercise which kicked off in Bugesera in May, follows a successful pilot project carried out by the NLC and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in some parts of the country to assess the feasibility of the project. Nkurunziza said that the NLC and a Swedish firm Swede Survey have developed a National Land Masterplan indicating land use and distribution, in a bid to optimally utilise the available land. “Government wants all Rwandans to own land and through registrations, citizens with land titles will have security for their land. Land is a tool that will ensure the success of programmes such as Vision 2020 and the EDPRS,” Nkurunziza said. “Land is proving to be a scarce resource yet 95 percent of the people directly depend on it. We are trying to sensitise people to diversify to other sectors but we cannot do so if banks cannot offer credit. The land titles will act as collateral for people to secure loans from banks,” Nkurunzinza emphasised. Demarcation and registration is so far going on in Bugesera, Kayonza, Nyamagabe, Kalongi, Kirehe and Gasabo Districts.According to officials at the Remera-based centre, the entire countrywide programme will take a minimum of three years to complete. Nkurunziza said that land demarcation will be followed by land registration by the respective owners, a process aimed at solving land disputes. Owners will be required to pay Rwf 1,000 per hectare in the countryside and less than RwF 5,000 in the city. Ends