Communal land registration explained

THE Ministry of Lands says National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Martin Lukato is misleading and confusing the public on the intention of the Communal Land Reform Act.

Lukato has called for a referendum in Caprivi on who should administer communal land there, and argued that the Act is divesting traditional authorities from administering land. In a response, Minister of Lands and Resettlement Alpheus !Naruseb said Lukato is biased towards the applicability of the Act, particularly in Caprivi. He said before the National Land Policy (NLP) and the Act which was adopted in 2003, there was a lack of clear policy and administrative structures for land allocation and management in rural areas. Clear steps were thus needed to remove uncertainty about legitimate access and rights to land, and the administration thereof. In some areas, Minister !Naruseb responded, traditional authorities undertook land administration with varying degrees of efficiency and legitimacy. In other areas, he said, there was no clear or broadly accepted authority over land. ‘The roles and rights of Government, the chiefs, the rich and the poor were very uncertain. Under these circumstances, many people saw communal areas and communal land tenure, as receiving second class treatment and offering second-class land rights to the Namibians who live in communal areas,’ !Naruseb said. The Act follows the guidelines of the NLP, and sets out the functions of chiefs, traditional authorities, and communal land boards (CLBs). !Naruseb said the CLBs do not usurp or divest power of chiefs or traditional authorities, but rather strengthens their positions. ‘The involvement of the traditional leaders in the communal land registration is paramount in the whole communal land registration process,’ he emphasised. All applications to new and existing customary land rights are handled by traditional authorities. Applicants must pay a N$25 application fee to traditional authorities, as well as N$50 when collecting the communal land registration certificate. Thus, said !Naruseb, traditional authorities in particular communities have the primary power to allocate or cancel customary rights. The CLBs in the communal land registration process only assist traditional authorities with systematic documentation and administration of communal land rights already allocated by traditional authorities. The minister said all recognised traditional authorities in each of the 12 CLBs can thus influence the decisions made during the ratification of communal land rights by the boards, saying the involvement of the CLBs are purely administrative to keep records in case of changes in inheritance, bequeathing, and relinquishing of land rights. ‘The registration of communal land rights should be viewed as a positive action by Government to address the social and economic discrimination that members of our society particularly women have suffered,’ said !Naruseb. The Act provides for the protection of surviving spouses, and now gives women rights in respect of communal lands that were not granted under customary law. Fencing of communal land is prohibited unless permission is granted, or if an existing fence is allowed to remain on the land. CLBs have to maintain registers of all customary land rights and rights of leaseholds to control the allocation and use of communal lands. The Act and CLBs, said !Naruseb, are thus intended to provide security of tenure of land rights holders, their spouses and children, while preventing disputes. The maximum size of land allocated for customary land rights should not exceed 20 hectares. However, explained the lands ministry, it is not expected under the Act for any person to register land of 20 hectares. Should anyone apply for land bigger than 20 hectares, chiefs of traditional authorities must refer such applications to the lands minister for written approval. Thus, in terms of decision making powers, the Act requires that an application for a customary land right of under 20 hectares is decided on by the chief or traditional authority, and for more than 20 hectares, an application must be referred to the minister for a decision. Such an application must be accompanied by a support letter from the traditional authority, and a written motivation from the applicant to justify the usage.

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