Tanzania
Village Land Act
Chapter 114
- Commenced on 1 May 2001
- [This is the version of this document at 30 November 2019.]
- [Note: This legislation has been thoroughly revised and consolidated under the supervision of the Attorney General's Office, in compliance with the Laws Revision Act No. 7 of 1994, the Revised Laws and Annual Revision Act (Chapter 356 (R.L.)), and the Interpretation of Laws and General Clauses Act No. 30 of 1972. This version is up-to-date as at 31st July 2002.]
Part I – Preliminary provisions
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Village Land Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"adjudication officer" means a person appointed to be an adjudication officer under section 56 of this Act;"certificate of approval to a derivative right" means a certificate granted under section 31 of this Act;"certificate of customary right of occupancy" means a certificate issued under section 29 of the Land Act;[Cap. 113]"certificate of village land" means a certificate issued under section 7 of this Act;"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Lands appointed under section 9 of the Land Act ;[Cap. 113]"communal right of way" has the meaning ascribed to it by section 157 of the Land Act;[Cap. 113]"communal village land" has the meaning ascribed to it by section 13 of this Act;"Constitution" means the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania;[Cap. 2]"Court" means the Court established under section 167 of the Land Act to hear and determine land disputes and includes the Ward Tribunals, the Village Land Council, the District Land and Housing Tribunal, and the High Court;[Act No. 2 of 2010 s. 35]"customary law" has the meaning ascribed to it by the Interpretation of Laws Act;[Cap. 1]"customary lease" means a lease the mode of creation and incidents of which including its termination are governed by customary law;"customary mortgage" means a mortgage the mode of creation and incidents of which are governed by customary law;"customary right of occupancy" means right of occupancy created by means of the issuing of a certificate of customary right of occupancy under section 27 of this Act and includes deemed right of occupancy;"deemed right of occupancy" means the title of a Tanzanian citizen of African descent or a community of Tanzanian citizens of African descent using or occupying land under and in accordance with customary law;"derivative right" means a right to occupy and use land created out of a right of occupancy and includes a lease, a sublease, a licence, a usufructuary right and any interest analogous to those interests;"disposition" means, in relation to a right of occupancy, any sale, mortgage, transfer, grant, partition, exchange, lease, assignment, surrender, or disclaimer and includes the creation of an easement, a usufructuary right, or other servitude or any other interest in a right of occupancy and any other act by an occupier of a right of occupancy whereby his rights over that right of occupancy are affected but does not include an agreement to undertake any of the dispositions so defined;"district adjudication" has the meaning ascribed to it under section 56;"district authority" means a district council, a township authority or a village council;"Elders Council" means the Elders Council established under section 60;"Gazette" has the meaning ascribed to it by the Interpretation of Laws Act;[Cap. 1]"general land" means all public land which is not reserved land or village land;"hazard land" means land declared to be hazard land under section 6 of this Act:"immediate family" means, in relation to a person, any other person related to that person in the third or a closer degree of affinity or consanguinity and in all cases shall include persons within those degrees of affinity and consanguinity whether born in or out of wedlock, whether born in or outside Tanzania, and where any person referred to above has had more than one spouse, shall include all such spouses and persons to the fourth or closer degree of affinity thereto;"joint village land use agreement" means the agreement made, adopted and approved under section 11 of this Act;"land" includes the surface of the earth and the earth below the surface, things naturally growing on the land, buildings and other structures permanently affixed to or under land and land covered by water;"land sharing arrangement" means a land sharing arrangement prepared under section 58;"lender" means a person to whom a mortgage has been given as security for the payment of an advance of money or money's worth or to secure a condition;"lessee" means a person to whom a lease is granted and includes a person who has accepted a transfer or assignment of a lease;"lessor" means a person by whom a lease is granted and includes a person who has accepted the transfer or assignment of the reversion of a lease;"lien" means the holding by a lender of any document of title relating to a right of occupancy or a lease as security for an advance of money or money's worth or the fulfilment of a condition;"local government authority" means a district authority or an urban authority;"Minister" means the Minister for the time being responsible for land;"mortgage" means an interest in a right of occupancy or a lease securing the payment of money or money's worth or the fulfilment of a condition and includes a submortgage and the instrument creating a mortgage;"notice of temporary assignment" means a notice issued under section 43 of this Act;"non-village organisation" means an organisation referred to by section 18 of this Act;"Operation Vijiji" means and includes the settlement and resettlement of people in villages commenced or carried out during and at any time between the first day of January, 1970 for or in connection with the purpose of implementing the policy of villagisation, and includes the resettlement of people within the same village, from one part of the village land to another part of that village land or from one part of land claimed by any such person as land which he held by virtue of customary law to another part of the same land, and the expropriation of it in connection with Operation Vijiji so defined;"order of abandonment" means an order made under section 45 of this Act and includes a provisional and a final order of abandonment;"order of temporary assignment" means an order issued under section 43 of this Act;"public land" means and includes all the land of Tanzania;"register" means a register prescribed under section 21 of this Act for the recording of rights and interests in and dispositions of and in connection with customary rights of occupancy;"reserved land" means land referred to by section 7 of this Act;"right of occupancy" means a title to the use and occupation of land and includes the title of a Tanzanian citizen of African descent or a community of Tanzanian citizens of African descent using or occupying land in accordance with customary law;"spot adjudication" has the meaning ascribed to it by section 49 of this Act;"supervision order" means an order issued under section 42 of this Act;"transfer land" means general or reserved land which is to be transferred to become a part of village land;"unexhausted improvement" means anything or any quality permanently attached to the land directly resulting from the expenditure of capital or labour by an occupier or any person acting on his behalf and increasing the productive capacity, the utility, the sustainability or the environmental quality thereof and includes trees, standing crops and growing produce whether of an agricultural or horticultural nature but does not include the results of ordinary cultivation;"village" means a village registered as such under the Local Government (District Authorities) Act;[Cap. 287]"village adjudication" means the process of adjudication provided for by sections 51 to 55 of this Act;"village adjudication adviser" means the person appointed to be a village adjudication adviser under section 52 of this Act;"village adjudication committee" means the committee established under section 53 of this Act;"village assembly" has the meaning ascribed to it by the Local Government (District Authorities) Act;[Cap. 287]"village council" has the meaning ascribed to it by the Local Government (District Authorities) Act;"village land" means the land declared to be village land under and in accordance with section 7 of this Act and includes any transfer land transferred to a village;"village land council" means the village land council established under section 60 of this Act;"village register" means the register of interests and rights in village land kept in accordance with section 21 of this Act;"village transfer land" means village land which is to be transferred to become part of general or reserved land;"villager" means a person ordinarily resident in a village or who is recognised as such by the village council of the village concerned.Part II – Application of fundamental principles of the National Land Policy
3. Fundamental principles of National Land Policy
Part III – Transfers and hazard land
4. Transfer of village land to general or reserved land and vice versa
5. Transfer of general or reserved land to village land
The President may direct the transfer of any area of general or reserved land to village land subject to the provisions of section 6 of the Land Act.[Cap. 113]6. Declaration of hazard land
Part IV – Village lands
A: Management and administration
7. Village land
8. Management of village land
9. Advice by district council
10. Conflict of interest
11. Joint village land use agreements between villages
12. Division of village land
13. Communal village land
14. Land which is or may be held for customary rights of occupancy
15. Confirmation of validity of interests in land created under and by Operation Vijiji
16. Confirmation of validity of allocations of land made by village councils since 1st January 1978
For the avoidance of doubt and in order to facilitate security of tenure and contribute to the development of village land, the provisions of section 15, other than subsections (2) and (3), shall apply to any and every allocation of village land made by village council or by any other authority on and after the first day of January, 1978 until the date of the commencement of this Act as if for the dates referred to in subsection (1) of that section, there were substituted the dates between the first day of January, 1978 and the date of commencement of this Act.17. Occupation of village land by non-village organization
18. Incidents of customary right of occupancy
19. Incidents of customary lease
Subject to the provisions of Part IX of the Land Act, 1998, a lease and a sublease granted out of a customary right of occupancy shall be called a "customary lease" and "customary sublease", as the case may be, and shall be governed by the customary law applying to the land out of which a lease or sublease, as the case may be, has been granted provided that this section shall not be taken to affect any customary leaseholds enfranchisement under the Nyarubanja Tenure (Enfranchisement) Act, 1965 or the Customary Leaseholds (Enfranchisement) Act, or to permit or sanction the reintroduction of any form of customary leaseholds similar in nature to Nyarubanja tenure.[Act No. 1 of 1965; Cap. 377]20. Law applicable to customary right of occupancy
21. Register of village land
B: Grant and management of customary right of occupancy
22. Application for customary right of occupancy in village land
23. Determination of application for customary right of occupancy
24. Contract for customary right of occupancy
25. Grant of customary right of occupancy
26. Payment of premium on grant of right of occupancy to non-village organization
27. Length of term of customary right of occupancy
28. Rent
29. Conditions
30. Assignment of customary right of occupancy by villager
31. Approval required for private disposition of derivative right
32. Grant of derivative right by village council
33. Criteria for determining application for approval or for grant of derivative right
34. Duties of grantee of derivative right
35. Surrender of customary right of occupancy by villager
36. Regrant of surrendered customary right of occupancy
37. When breach of condition of customary right of occupancy arises
38. Remedies for breach of condition
39. Remedies in accordance with customary law
40. Fine for breach of condition
41. Summary action to remedy breach of condition
42. Supervision order to remedy breach of condition
43. Temporary assignment of customary right of occupancy on account of breach of condition
44. Revocation of customary right of occupancy
45. Abandonment of land held for customary right of occupancy
46. Application for relief
47. Appeals
An applicant for—C: Adjudication of interest in land
48. Application of this Subpart
Except where the boundaries of and interest in land is registered under any law applicable to the registration of village land, or notwithstanding such registration, the boundaries and interests in land are fully accepted and agreed to by all persons with an interest in that land and in respect of the boundaries of that land and land bordering that land, no grant of a customary right of occupancy shall be made to any person, group of persons or non-village organisation unless and until the boundaries of and interest in that land have been adjudicated in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart.49. Spot adjudication
50. Village or district adjudication
51. Determination to apply village adjudication
52. Appointment and functions of village adjudication adviser
53. Village adjudication committee
54. Procedures for village adjudication
55. Appeals
56. District adjudication
57. Principles of adjudication
58. Land sharing arrangements between pastoralists and agriculturalists
59. Staying of suits
Part V – Dispute settlement
60. Village land council
61. Functions of village land council
62. References of disputes from village land council to court
Part VI – Miscellaneous provisions
63. Offences
64. Corrupt transactions
65. Regulations
66. Translation
History of this document
30 November 2019 this version
Consolidation
01 May 2001
Commenced
Documents citing this one 19
Judgment 16
- Alakaai Alaunoni Laizer vs Zefania Chaula & 6 others (Land Case No. 13 of 2021) [2023] TZHC 22101 (18 October 2023)
- Boniphace Lugari vs Chairman Kaliua Village Council (Land Appeal 22 of 2012) [2014] TZHC 2109 (6 February 2014)
- Buco Investment Holdings Limited vs CRDB Bank PLC & Others (Commercial Case 15 of 2016) [2019] TZHCComD 178 (20 February 2019)
- Buco Investment Holdings Ltd vs Crdb Babk PLC & Another (Commercial Case 15 of 2018) [2019] TZHCComD 18 (20 February 2019)
- Daremi Lilo Salehe vs The D.P.P (Criminal Appeal No. 102 of 2022) [2023] TZHC 18473 (15 June 2023)
- Hanna Juma Simpassa (as Administratrix of of the estates of the late Joachin Jackson Simpassa) & Another vs Executive Director of Momba & Others (Misc. Civil Cause 3 of 2022) [2022] TZHC 11650 (12 July 2022)
- Jamhuri Libawa (Admnistrator of the Estate of the Late Otilia Lyapembile) Vs. Anorld Lawrence Matemba and Another (Land Appeal No 14 of 2021) [2023] TZHC 19299 (26 May 2023)
- Jirani Ramadhani Nkala vs Wilbard Maliyatabu (4 of 2022) [2022] TZHC 10273 (3 June 2022)
- Joseph Lusani Helasita Sanga v Jacob Peter Makaya (Land Appeal Case No. 309 of 2023) [2023] TZHCLandD 17288 (14 November 2023)
- Kawe Mpiji Habitat Group vs John Paul Lyimo & Others (Land Case 202 of 2015) [2018] TZHCLandD 112 (11 May 2018)
- Mechtilda Kateme Kabagire vs Rashid Ramadhani and Others (Land Case 166 of 2012) [2020] TZHC 2068 (28 February 2020)
- Northern Hunting Enterprises (T) Ltd vs Kibo Guides & Another (Commercial Case No. 33 of 2004) [2005] TZHCComD 29 (7 January 2005)
- Paulo Songati vs Kalinzi Village and 2 Others (Land Case 21 of 2022) [2023] TZHC 23301 (14 December 2023)
- Rupiana Tungu & 3 Others vs Abdul Buddy & Another (Civil Appeal 115 of 2004) [2008] TZHC 39 (27 May 2008)
- Stephen Haule vs Rajab Maulid & Another (Land Case 10 of 2018) [2022] TZHCLandD 411 (30 May 2022)
- Sudi Mundu vs James Mwishagoli (Misc. Land Appeal 133 of 2020) [2021] TZHCLandD 234 (30 June 2021)