undermines the government's efforts to achieve legitimacy while weakening local systems of
governance, ultimately inhibiting democratization.
The government does not have the resources to adequately administer land in Mozam-
bique. It cannot administer the formal land-tenure system as it is now constituted. There are
conflicts over land distribution among central, provincial, and district levels of government
as well as among different ministries. For example, different levels of government are
granting concessions for the same land to different individuals or enterprises, while the
different ministries are granting concessions for the same land to different people for different
purposes (agriculture, mining, hunting, etc.). There are several layers of overlapping claims
to the same land in many areas of the country. This is complicating an already confusing legal
landscape established under the colonial government. After independence the government
further compounded the problem by "intervening" some properties and nationalizing others.
In addition, all land was theoretically nationalized and all previous rights were extinguished.
The various land laws and the constitution contradict one another and are vague on
fundamental questions. For example, the Constitution and Land Law of 1979 nationalized all
land, abolished private land rights, and reduced freehold rights to leasehold rights. However,
the law also states that any property not intervened, nationalized, or abandoned would remain
the property of the original legally recognized owner. Now, twenty years after independence,
people are returning to Mozambique to reactivate titles, claiming that they were never
abandoned. Reports from several locations in the country confirm that many individuals have
been successful in reactivating rights to their old holdings.
In addition to problems with land administration, the government has difficulties with land
distribution. Government presumes it knows which lands are "free for distribution." This is
not always the case. Central, provincial, and district governments often do not know where
free land is located largely because there is no system for recording this information. Because
of long-standing antagonisms there is little cooperation between government officials and local
customary authorities who might help government to administer selected lands in the country.
The question of whether government should distribute land, particularly without the
participation and consent of local communities, has not been addressed at all.
An ominous problem has recently emerged involving the government and RENAMO over
who has the right to distribute land. It has been reported that RENAMO has made, or
promised, land concessions in areas under its political control. At the same time, RENAMO
has accused the government of giving away the country's national wealth through land
concessions.
Land access for smallholders, including returning refugees, displaced families, and local
natives, is proving to be much more complicated than envisioned by government officials
* Farms that were "intervened" were taken over by the government after independence. The legal status of
intervention is not clear, but in Mozambique it is considered one step less than nationalization. In an attempt to
clarify legal status before alienation, government has recently attempted to nationalize many farms that were
intervened after independence. See Myers, West, and Eliseu (1993); Myers and Tanner (1992); West and Myers
(1993); and Tanner, Myers, and Oad (1993).