19
and that they often relied on the word of the applicant that the land was free for distribu-
tion. 43 Other officials complained that their decisions were often overridden by higher-level
authorities who did not have adequate information about their localities or districts. In both
Sofala and Gaza provinces, for example, district officials complained that provincial
authorities had distributed land to nonlocal interests without their participation or consent,
leading to confusion and competition over the land between the new interests and the local
landholders. In both instances district officials were pressed by local populations to secure
new lands for their use. Provincial-level officials have also commented that they lack
resources to administer the 1979 Land Law and 1987 Land Law Regulations. In all provinces
where we conducted case studies, government officials at the provincial offices of
DINAGECA stated that they have very little capacity to maintain a registry, and that they
lack the resource4s4 to monitor concessions granted by other ministries or by provincial offices
of DINAGECA.
One of the problems with the current land policy is the presumption that the government
knows which lands are free for distribution to either reintegrating populations, displaced
people, demobilized troops, returning colonial concerns, or new private interests. Research
indicates that government does not have a clear idea of where these "free lands" are located,
nor does it have a functioning system for discovering, marking, and recording this
information. Locality or district-level officials sometimes approach customary authorities for
details. This is a constructive process that should be encouraged but, as noted further below,
occurs infrequently—and even when it does, local land rights are often not respected.
In addition, a new, perhaps more ominous problem is the potential conflict between
RENAMO and the government over who has the right to distribute land and who has the right
to distribute land in which part of the country. Some informants report that RENAMO has
been granting concessions for agricultural and hunting lands in areas under its control (see
maps 4 and 5). It has also been asserted that RENAMO gives preference to any returning
colonial interests. If these allegations prove true, they raise grave and unsettling political and
legal questions. At the same time, RENAMO has been highly critical of what it believes is
a land give-away program sponsored by the government.
3. LAND AVAILABILITY AND SCARCITY
Government officials at the central, provincial, and district levels of government have
stated that there is plenty of land available, and that they encourage private foreign and
43. District Agricultural Officer (DDA), Chokwe, Gaza Province, personal communication, April 1992;
District Agricultural Officer (DDA), Nhamatanda, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1993; Chief,
Provincial Services of DINAGECA, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1992; Chief, District
Services of DINAGECA, Nhamantanda, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1992; and Chief,
Provincial Services of DINAGECA, Manica Province, personal communication, August 1992. See also Weiss
and Myers (1994); and Garvey (1994). This point, however, was hotly debated at the Second National Land
Conference. For example, the governor of Inhambane, Sr. Francisco Pateguana, stated that he personally visits
every location where a concession is pending and checks to see that the land is vacant before it is approved
(personal communication, May 1994).
44. Ibid.; see also Ferriio (1994).