Harmonised land policy to mitigate land-grabbing, bloody confrontations

The rampant land-grabbing by the rich and the perennial squabbles that have often resulted in bloody confrontations and loss of lives in Cameroon may soon be issues of the past, given that, villages will soon be issued land certificates according to colonial boundaries and subsequent official modifications.

This is one of the several recommendations tabled to the Government on harmonised land policy, developed by a group of Civil Society Organisations in the Northwest Region.

In a project facilitated by the Cameroon-European Union Cooperation, and financed by the Civil Society Strengthening Programme, PASC, Northwest Civil Societies, including Fons, Churches, Councils and Regional Land Coalitions, worked with Community Assistance in Development, COMAID, and came out with proposals to harmonise the Land Ordinance in Cameroon.

During a Regional participatory workshop of stakeholders to review and contribute to the Land Tenure Ordinance that recently held in Bamenda, it was resolved that, apart from villages to be issued land certificates, there should be no age limit to obtain a land title, and that ownership of land should be determined by undisputed possession and not possession prior to the 1974 law.

Concerning cultural and gender issues on access to land management, participants resolved that acquisition of land or land titles for physical challenged persons should be free.

There were equally suggestions that the procedure for land acquisition and land registration should be simplified, cost-effective and should be decentralised such that land certificates can be issued at Subdivisional offices.

On land expropriation, it was agreed that expropriation should exist within the life of a particular project.

“After the end of a project, the land should be given back to the community. In cases of expropriation, compensation for the development of the land should reflect the long term economic value of the crop or property expropriated and compensation paid before the completion of the expropriation procedure,” the stakeholders agreed.

Another bone of contention to which the stakeholders examined was the Land Consultative Board. They said the Land Consultative Board should involve representatives from Councils and the decisions of the Board should be taken by 2/3 majority of the members of the Board, which must include the Fons or Chiefs.

In the absence of the Fon or his representative and after proof of service of three invitations to him, deliberations can be concluded in his absence.

The Coordinator of the Community Assistance in Development, Christian Jitar Taku, expressed satisfaction with the recommendations. He said, to have trained over 100 traditional rulers, women groups and youth groups on the Land Tenure Law before the workshop, was not an easy task to accomplish.

He thanked the EU and PASC, for helping his organisation succeed in establishing the 13 recommendations in five thematic areas.

The recommendations, he said, if endorsed by the National Land Coalition, would resolve the litany of land problems in Cameroon.

According to one of the facilitators of the workshop, Barrister Robert Fon; “From what the stakeholders in the land reform process in the Region have presented, if only a third of it is implemented, Cameroon will be saved from embarrassments that have always stemmed from land issues”.

According to Government officials in the Northwest Region, land governance remains a major challenge in most African countries and Cameroon, in particular. They said President Biya, during the Ebolowa Agric Show, announced land reforms and COMAID has effectively commenced the process with its recommendations.

It should be recalled that in July 2009, Heads of States and Governments of the African Union, AU, initiated land policy development and implementation in their respective countries in order to ensure that land laws provide equitable access to land and related resources among all land users, including the youths, women and other vulnerable groups, and Cameroon is a signatory to that declaration.