Locals sidelined, says new report

Dar es Salaam. Seventy-five per cent of local communities in investment-designated areas say they were not involved in making decisions on the future of their respective areas, according to a new report.

The Human Rights and Business Report 2016 released by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) yesterday further says that local communities are not allowed to utilise idle land designated for investment.

According to the report, whose findings were presented by LHRC researcher Patience Mlowe, 50 per cent of land acquired for investment is not used by investors.

Only 24 per cent of respondents reported to have been consulted on investment decisions, while 57 per cent said that authorities denied them permission to use land designated for investment despite its remaining undeveloped for many years.

“It is a moral obligation for an investor to allow residents in investment areas to make use of idle land provided for investment...the majority of investors don’t allow local communities to use land which is not utilised for investment,” Mr Mlowe said.

It has also been established that it is common for investors to apply for land they cannot fully utilise. As a result, the land remains idle for many years, leading to invasion by members of surrounding communities.

The report says that land set aside for investment is usually vast and is taken from locals through both lawful and unlawful means.

The surrounding communities are left with little or no land for their daily activities such as hunting, farming and grazing.

As a result these communities may resort to invading land for investment, leading to protracted disputes with land owners.

LHRC urged the government to continue revoking titles for unused land, especially in rural areas, and hand it over to local communities.

The report also asks the Ministry of Energy and Minerals to provide small-scale miners with licences, saying a few miners are allocated huge tracts of land which remain idle.

Launching the report earlier, LHRC executive director Hellen Kijo-Bisimba said the government should involve locals in surveying land to avert disputes.