Land centre registers over 6 million plots

At least 6.3 million plots of land have already been demarcated by the National Land Centre, in the ongoing land registration exercise countrywide. Demarcation is followed by the issuance of land titles, which attests to a person’s ownership of a given piece of land. This was revealed by the Director of Land Administration, at the National Land Centre, Francois Ntaganda, during an interview with The New Times. According to Ntaganda, the registration, initially covered districts within Kigali city, plus Kirehe in the Eastern Province. The exercise is set for completion by June next year. He cited several challenges met by his office in the registration exercise. These include classification of land on communal settlements (Imidugudu) for the poor. The law explains that the owners have limited rights over their houses because these were constructed on land owned by district authorities. “According to the law, owners of houses constructed for the poor do not have full rights over them, because they are built on the land owned by their districts,” he explained. “Perhaps the law should be revised to solve that problem.” Polygamous families were also cited as another cause for land conflict. “The wife who is recognised by the law retains her rights on family land, whereas others do not qualify as owners thus causing a conflict.” The land centre operates largely with grassroots committees land committees which demarcate the boundaries of plots and help in resolving quarrels that arise during the process. Ends