Authorized Land Officer Leonard Jaka
Mufindi District Administrative Secretary (DAS) Allan Bernard
MUFINDI District Commissioner, Jowike Kasunga has insisted citizens of Itengule Village in Malangali Ward to speed up the construction of Village Land Registry office building so that it can be completed quickly for the storage of land registry facilities.
In his speech read out by the Mufindi District Administrative Secretary (DAS) Allan Bernard on his behalf yesterday, said the citizens should cooperate with their village government to participate in the construction of the village land registry office, so that filing cabinets, seals and the Village Land Register (book) can be kept safely.
Mufindi District Council (MDC) in collaboration with Land Rights Research and Resources Institute (LRRRI), an organization that deals with land issues in the country, has issued 296 certificates of customary right of occupancy (CCROs) to residents of Itengule village in Malangali Ward, Iringa region, after their farms and plots were demarcated.
Kasunga said that it is important that village should have land registry to keep documents of the village.
He also urged the residents of Itengule Village to make sure that they keep their land title deeds they have got properly for their own benefit, including using such documents as collateral for various economic activities.
He added that CCROs can be used as collateral in various walks of life including financial institutions in exchange for loans and ultimately improve their livelihood.
LRRRI Institute has facilitated access to the registry equipment like filing cabinets, seals and land registers to four villages of Itengule, Itulituli, Igomaa and Tambalang'ombe.
In addition, Mufindi District Council in Iringa Region has demarcated the boundaries of 113 villages out of 114 in the district.
According to the Authorized Land Officer Leonard Jaka, there is only one village called Mpanga-Tazara whose boundaries are not marked but council is planning to be surveyed in this financial year.
Jaka said the formalization of land in Mufindi district for the purpose of issuance of the certificates of customary right of occupancy (CCROs) started during the 2010/2011 financial year.
The MDC in cooperation with LRRRI the institution which deals with research issues and advocacy of land rights, have distributed 296 CCROs to citizens of Itengule Village in Malanagli Ward including widows.
He said that 45 of the 114 villages are implementing village land use plan (VLUP) and efforts are underway in other villages to implement VLUP and they have set aside money in the budget each year by involving other stakeholders so that it can be sustainable basis.
He said that the district council also drafted Village Land Certificates to 92 out of 114 villages where efforts are underway to complete the remaining 22 villages and 19 village maps were waiting to come from the Ministry of Lands and Housing where they have being prepared.
Mufindi District Council together with LRRRI started work on the delivery of CCROs and till now 1,661 CRROs were distributed in various villages in the district.
"In the financial year 2015/16 the council has allocated 12,000,000 / - in its budget for the education and advocacy on land rights and CCROs by also involving the public in demarcating their land so that the process of issuing customary titles can be sustainable, "said Jaka.
Citizens of the Village of Itengule, Malangali Ward have thanked the government and LRRRI Institute for providing CCROs and said CCROs will also help eliminate land disputes, especially boundary conflicts was common in the area.
Venanza George a widow said that some men in her village had characteristics of grabbing women land and probably the relatives of deceased were take all the things away from them.
Adding that for now they have right to land ownership rights, especially them (widows) have been identified and begun to be implemented in practice.
For his part, LRRRI Institute Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Allan Baino said in cooperation with the district council they have conducted trainings on land issues, governance and climate change mitigation and adaptation in 30 villages.
Baino said that the aim of the project was to provide a broad understanding in the community about the land right, rural governance and climate change mitigation and adaptation so that they can produce enough food, hence food security, especially for small producers.
He said a total of 15 villages have been provided with education on land rights, governance and climate change adaption and mitigation including Itengule, Mwilavila, Itulituli, Kihanga, Mninga, Kitiru, Ikimilinzowo and Nyololo.
Others are Nzivi, Ukemele, Ihegele, Ikweha, Uyela, Igeleke and Vikula, equivalent to 100 percent of the target of the project.
Until the 2015/2016 financial year a total of 1,554 farms and plots including Kisasa, Magunguli, Wami-Mbalwe, Itengule, Itulituli, Igomaa and Tambalang’ombe villages were demarcated.
LRRRI provided the budget of 105,960,000 / - in Mufindi District Council for the purpose of formalizing land and for buying village land registry materials.
In addition, the institute has facilitated registry equipment for four villages of Itengule, Itulituli, Igomaa and Tambalang’ombe.
No comments:
Post a Comment