An assessment carried out by Rwanda Civil Society Platform has disclosed that citizens are protesting delays in land transfer. The maximum time for land transfer according to the National Land Use Authority, varies between one and 18 working days. However, the assessment has disclosed that there are delays in the transfer process where approximately 22 percent of respondents said that they were not satisfied with the time it took for them to receive services. It shows that citizens spend too much time at the land offices in order to receive land services and sometimes land authorities request citizens to make frequent trips. “Land service delivery needs to be improved. We have realised that residents spend over a month seeking land transfer as they make frequent trips. We have realised that there is also limited staff in charge of land services while there is absence of land notaries in some sectors,” said Joseph Ryarasa Nkurunziza, the Chairperson of Rwanda Civil Society Platform. He said that the available land notaries are even used in other duties in the sectors that are not related to land services, adding that this affects land transfer processes among other land services. According to the survey, 73.6 percent of those seeking land services are spending about a month seeking the services up to the last step, 14.7 percent use between one and three months to get the last step of land services while 9.3 percent and 2.3 percent spend between three and six months, as well as more than six months respectively. In some cases, it shows, a single land officer was responsible for many sectors at once to provide land services. The assessment shows that 40 percent said they do not know where to go for each land service, and 27 percent did not know what requirements prior to requesting land service. The status of land issues in Rwanda was discussed on Wednesday May 25, during a policy dialogue that brought together different stakeholders in Kigali. Call for land services at cell level The assessment report recommended land-related services that require physical presence to be brought to each sector level to spare citizens long distance travelling. The report suggests fast-tracking to make land transferring system paperless across the country. “The possibility of bringing land services, including land transfer services, at the cell level should be seriously considered given the long distance travelling constraints,” reads part of the recommendations, adding that land transfer-related fees should be determined based on the location, size and use of the land. Speaking to The New Times, Esperance Mukamana, the Director-General of National Land Authority, admitted that limited staff in charge of land offices in sectors has been affecting land service delivery. “We have realised that some sectors have no land notaries. We are in discussions with the local government on how such vacant positions can be filled, because a land notary of one sector is used to provide land services in many sectors which delays the land transfer processes. We also have a meeting with the local government ministry, Ministry of Environment on May 27 to discuss the issues related to land use and services,” she said. She said that decentralising land services at cell level including land transfer processes, as requested, requires further studies before making a decision. “The country needs financial capacity to get staff that can deliver land services at cell level because there are so many cells,” she said. Meanwhile she said 85 private land notaries have been recruited to provide land services delivery including land transfer processes. She said the government is also mobilising finances to be able to scale up the full digitisation of the land system for land-transferring to go paperless. Issue of wrong land demarcations in land system The New Times has learnt that during land transfer processes, issues of land demarcation are emerging. “I bought 400-square metre land as it is visible on the field in Kicukiro district, but when I wanted to start land transfer I realised it was only 300-square metre in the land system. We are told that part of the land I am missing was annexed to a neighbour’s land in the system and it requires first bringing back that part to my land,” said Patrick Bigirumwami, a resident of Kicukiro district. Lack of proper boundaries in the land system, he said, is also delaying land transfer processes because it requires first to correct demarcations. Mukamana admitted that many areas in the country have such issues of wrong boundaries because the land registration system that was used since 2010 was not accurate enough for precise proper demarcations. “Now we have introduced modern technologies with precision that is helping us to correct demarcations in the country. When we identify an area that is most affected, we correct it so that citizens do not incur any cost,” she explained. She added that a new law is in offing to govern land surveyors. “There must be law and guidelines to ensure professionalism of land surveyors, so that it also reduces corruption,” she said.
