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The rights of squatters and the landless were also implicitly addressed by this legislation. In
1968, the Ministry of Local Government instructed local authorities to lay out basic site and service
schemes for squatter settlements (ministerial circular No. 29 of 1968). Settlers were issued Land
Record Cards as verification of their rights to individual plots, but the cards lacked legal grounding,
leaving settlers fearful of eviction (Chinene et al. 1993). Under the Housing (Statutory and
Improvement Areas) Act, the minister was authorized to declare an "improvement area," and the
Commissioner of Lands was granted authority to issue titles to the local authority, which in turn could
issue occupancy licenses and titles to settlers. Once a general sketch plan by a settler is produced,
occupants are allocated serial numbers indicating their plots which suffice for registration and issuance
of title (i.e., 14-year leases). The Housing Act is the only legislative enactment on squatters in the
country, but applies only to urban areas while squatting is common in state lands. Officials contend
that occupancy licenses confer security of tenure, and the title is sufficient for collateral. Data on
number of mortgages by 14-year and 99-year lease (in chapter 3) provide weak evidence to the
contrary.
D. Agencies responsible for land policy
The MOL is responsible for formulating and ensuring proper administration of land. All land
regardless of location is vested in the president (and the minister of Lands) on all land matters
including granting of land, fixing ground rent, and determining the conditions under which land is
held. The Lands and Deeds Registry is responsible for registering all interests in land and for issuing
title deeds. The Town and Country Planning Department in the Ministry of Local Government is
responsible for zoning, certain large local authority plans, and determining "proper" land use. The
Ministry of Environment is responsible for the control of land use for forestry, factories, and other
uses, and for formulating conditions under which land can be used in certain areas. It is also
responsible for approving the consolidation and subdivision of land based on its environmental
interests.
The Land Use Planning Section of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture,
is involved through its central, provincial, and district offices with the preparation of farm plans and
farm layouts, settlement planning, land allocation and demarcations, site preparation, land use and land
suitability assessment. It receives directives from the planning section of the department to find sites
and prepare layouts for agricultural schemes and projects. It also gives advice to applicants for
individual farm holdings based on conservation principles, i.e., suitable land use, farm size, farm and
field boundaries, and location of services and facilities (ODA 1989).
The workload in providing such advice for new individual holdings as well as the increased
demand for lease titles will continue to expand. Without changes, farm planning advice and land
application processes are likely to be overstretched, leading to further delays in land allocation and
registration. The expansion in numbers of small-scale and medium-scale commercial farms is eroding
the structure of a few large commercial-sector farms that the agency was designed to service. One can
only expect the commercial farm sector to become more dispersed and extended through subdivisions
and opening of new lands. The department will no longer be able to afford the intensity of planning
work per farm that has characterized its operations since colonial times. If the department is to keep
pace with these trends, fundamental changes will be needed. Options include, but are not limited to:
(a) greatly simplifying land use planning and the work entailed in lease approvals; (b) reducing the
volume of work by perhaps eliminating reviews of subdivisions; (c) prioritizing work toward farm