Village Land Act, 1999

THE VILLAGE LAND ACT, 1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Title PART I PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS I . Short title and commencement. 2. Interpretation. PART 11 APPLICATION OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE NATIONAL LAND POLICY 3. Fundamental Principles of National Land Policy. 1 1999Village LandNo. 5 PART III TRANSFERS AND HAZARD LAND Transfer of village land to general or4. reserved land. Transfer of general or reserved land to5. village land. Declaration of hazard land.6. PART IV VILLAGE LANDS A: Management and Administration Village land. Management of village land. Advice by the District Council. Conflict of interest. Joint 7. 8. 9. 10. agreementsusevillage11. land between villages. Division of village land.12. 2 1999Village Land Communal village land.13. Land which is or may be held for14. customary rights of occupancy. Confirmation of validity of interests in15. land created under and by Operation Vijiji. Confirmation of validity of allocations16. of Land made by village councils since first day of January, 1978. Occupation of village Land by non-17. village organization. of rightcustomary ofIncidents18. occupancy. Incidents of a customary lease.19. 20. Law applicable to customary right of occupancy. Register of village land.21. 3 . No. 5 Village Land 1999 B: Grant and Management of Customary Right of Occupancy 22. Application for customary right of Occupancy in village Land. Determination23. of application for customary right of occupancy. 24. Contract for a customary right of occupancy. Grant25. of a customary right of occupancy. 26. Payment of premium on grant of customary right of occupancy. 27. Length of term of customary right of occupancy. Rent.28. 29. Conditions.. 30. Assignment of customary right of occupancy by villager. 4 32. Grant of derivative right by village council. 33. Criteria for determining application for approval aria grant of a derivative right. 34. Duties of grantee of derivative right. 35. Surrender of customary right of occupancy by villager. Regrant of surrendered customary right of occupancy. When 36. breach of condition37. of . .customary right of occupancy arises. Remedies for breach of condition.38. withRemedies in accordance39. customary law. .Fine for breach of condition.40. 5 Village Land 1999 Approval required for private disposition of derivative right by village council31. 1999Village LandNo. 5 Summary action to remedy breach of41. condition. Supervision Order to remedy breach of42. Condition. Temporary assignment of customary right of occupancy on account of breach of condition. Revocation 43. 44. of customary ofright occupancy. 45. Abandonment of land held for a customary right of occupancy. 46. Application for relief. 47. Appeals. C: Adjudication of interests in land 48. Application of this sub-part. 49. Spot adjudication. 50. Village or District adjudication. Determination adjudication 51. to apply village 6 1999Village Land Appointment and functions of village52. adjudication adviser. .Village adjudication committee.53. .Procedure for village adjudication.54. Appeals.55. .District adjudication.56. Principles of adjudication..57. Land sharing arrangements between pastoralists and agriculturalists. Staying of suits. 58. 59. PART V DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 60. Village Land Council. Functions of Village Land Councils.61. References of disputes from Village Land Council to courts 62. 7 No. 5 Village Land 1999 PART VI MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 63. Offences. Corrupt transactions.64. 65. Regulations. 66. Translation. 8 . 1999Village LandNo. 5 THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA No. 5 OF 1999 An Act to provide for the management and administration of land in villages, and for related matters. II ENACTED by the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania. PART I PRELIMINARY Short title1--(1) This Act may be cited as and com the Village Land Act, 1999. mencement (2) This Act shall come into op eration on a date which the Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, ap point and the Minister may appoint dif ferent dates for different Parts. . 9 I ASSENT President 15th May, 1999 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Interpretation 2. 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-P 66 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, I 999.5 ''certificate of village land'' means a certificate issued under section 7 of this Act; 10 Village Land 1999 ''Commissioner'' means the Commissioner of Lands appointed under section 9 of the Land Act 1999; '' has the mea-''communal rights of way ning ascribed to it by section 157 of the Land Act'' communal village land'' has the66 meaning ascribed to it by section 13 of this Act; ''Constitution'' means the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977; customary law'' has the meaning.46 ascribed to it by the Interpretation of Laws and General Clauses Act, 1972; 1 Cap, I I I 1999No. 5 Village Land 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; ''Court'' means any body established by or under any written law, which is referred to in section 167 of the Land Act as having jurisdiction to hear and determine land dispu tes;'' 12 1999Village Land ''derivative right'' means a right to occupy and use land created out of a right of occupancy and includes a lease, a sub-lease, a licence, a usufructuary right and any interest analogous to those interests; . ''deemed right of occupancy means19 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-. I ''disposition'' means, in relation to a right of occupancy any sale, mortaga ge, transfer, grant, partition, ex change, lease, assignment, surre nder or disclaimer and includes the creation of an easement, usu fructuary right or other servitude or any other interest in a right of occupancy or a lease and any o ther act by an occupier of a right I 13 No. 5 Village Land 1999 of occupancy or lease whereby his rights over that right of occupancy of lease are affected and includes an agreement to undertake any of * disposition so defined''; ''district authority'' means a district council,, a township authority or a village council; ''district adjudication'' has the meaning ascribed to it under section 56; ''Gazette'' has the, meaning ascribed to it by the Interpretation of Laws Act, No. 32 of 1972; 44 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: W joint village land use agreement'' I means the agreement made, adopted and approved under section II of Act-this I 14 . 1999NO. 5 Village Laid ''land'' includes the surface of the earth and the earth below the surface and all substances other than mi nerals and petroleum forming part of or below the surface, things na turally growing on the land, buil dings and other structures perma nently affixed to land-$ ''Land sharing arrangement'' means a land sharing arrangement prepared under section 5 8; "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 15 No. 5 Village Land 1999 transfer or assignment of the reversion of a lease 9 ''lien means the holding by a lender of)9 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 fulfillment 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 secu ring the payment of money or money's worth or the fulfillment of a condition and. includes a su b-mortgage and the instrument creating a mortgage; ''notice of temporary assignment'' means a notice issued under 16 1999Village Land section 43 of this Act; ''on-village organization'' means an organization referred to by section 18 of this Act; ''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; ''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 and thirty first day of Dece mber, 1977 for or in connection with the purpose of implementi ng the policy of villagisation, and includes the resettlement of pe ople within the same village, from one part ofthe village land to ano ther part of that village land or 17 No. 5 Village Land 1999 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 co nnection with Operation Vijiji so defined ''public land'' means and includes all land of Tanzaniathe it 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 right's of occupancy; ''reserved land'' means land referred to by section 7 of this Act-9 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 18 Village Land 1999 Tanzanian citizens of African descent using or occupying land in accordance with customary law; spot adjudication'' has the meaning66 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 any thing or any quality permanently attached to the land directly resu Iting from the expenditure of capital or labor by an occupier or any person acting on his be half and increasing the produ .ctive capacity, the utility, the su stainability or the environmental quality thereof and includes trees, 19 1999Village LandNo. 5 standing crops and growing pro duce whether of an agricultural or horticultural nature ''village'' means a village registered as such under the Local Act No. 7 Government (District of 1982 Authorities) Act 1982; Villager'' means a person ordinarily resident in a village or who is recognized as such by the village council of the village concerned ''village adjudication'' means the process of adjudication provided for by sections 51 to 55 of this Act 5 ''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 20 1999Village Land this Act 5 '' Village assembly'' has the meaning ascribed to it by the Local Government (District Authorities) Act 1982 Act No. 7 of 1982 ) '' Village council'' has the meaning ascribed to it by the Local Act No. 7 Government (District of 1982 Authorities) Act, 1982; '' Village land'' means the land declared to be village land under and in accordance with section 7 of this Act and includes any transfer o r- land transferred to a village; ''Village land Council'' means the villa ge land council established u nder section 60-) '' Village register'' means the register of interests and rights in village land kept in accordance with section 21 of this Act 21 .1999Village LandNo. 5 Village transfer land'' means village land which is to be transferred to become part of general or reserved land. PART 11 APPLICATION OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE NATIONAL LAND POLICY fundamentalThe3.-(l) principles of National Land Policy which are the objectives of the Land Act,, 1999 to which 0 Fundamental principles under,,exercising powerspersons applying or interpreting this Act are to have regard to are (a) to make sure that there is estab lished an independent, expediti ous and just system for adjuca tion of land disputes which will hear and determine land disputes without undue delay; (b) to recognise that all Land in Tanzania is public Land vested in the President as trustee on behalf of all citizens 22 1999Village Land . to(c) that existingensure rights in and recognized long standing occupation or use of Land are clarified and secured by the law-5 (d) to facilitate an equitable distribution of and access to land by all citizens; (e) to regulate the amount of land that any one person or corporate body may occupy or use; to ensure that land is usedM productively and that any such use complies with the sustainableofprinciples development; (g) to take into account that an inte rest in land has value and that va lue is token into consideration in any transaction affecting that in terest; 23 Village Land 1999No. 5 to pay full, fair and prompt compensation to any person M whose right of occupancy or recognized long-standing customaryoccupation or use of land is revoked or otherwise interfered with to their detriment by the State under this Act or is acquired under the LandAct No. 47 of 1967 Acquisition Act, 1967; to provide for an, efficient, effective, economical and transparent system of Land (i) administration; 0) to enable all citizens to decisioninparticipate mattersonmaking theirwithconnected occupation or use of land; 24 1999Village Land (k) to facilitate the operation of a market in Land (1) regulate the operation of a market in Land so as to ensure that rural and urban small-holders pastoralists are disadvantaged; are not (m) to set out rules of Land Law accessibly in a manner which can be readily understood by all citizens-) to establish an independent, expeditious and just system for the adjudication of Land disputes which will hear (n) and determine cases without undue delay; ... . 25 1999Village LandNo. 5 (o) to encourage the dissemination of information about land admi nistration and Land Law as pro vided for by this Act through pro grammes of public and adult edu cation, using all forms of media. (2) The right of every woman toac quire, hold, use and deal with land shall to the same extent and subject to the same re striction be treated as the right of any man, is hereby declared to be law. PART III TRANSFERS AND HAZARD LAND 4.-(I) Where the President is minded to transfer any area of village land to general or reserved land for pub lic interest, he may direct the Minister to Transfer of village land to general or proceed in accordance with the provi-.reserved land sions of this section. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), public interest shall include invest .ments, of national interest. 26 1999Village Land (3) The Minister shall cause to be published in the Gazette and sent to the village council having jurisdiction over the land which is the subject of the proposed transfer, hereinafter called % village transfer land' a notice specifying (a) the location of the area of the village transfer land-.91 (b) the extent and boundaries of the village transfer land (c) a brief statement of the reasons for the proposed transfer-9 (d) the date, being not less than ninety days from the date of the publication of the notice, when the President may exer cise his power to transfer the .land or a part of it. . 27 Village LandNo. 5 1999 . (4) Where any portion of the village transfer land has been allocated to a villager or a group of villagers under a customary right of occupancy or a derivative right or a person or a group of persons to use the land, the council shall inform thosevillage villagers or, where any one of those villagers is absent, a member of the family occupying or using the land with that villager, of the contents of the notice. ... Any person referred to in(5) make(3)subsection may representations to the Commissioner and to the village council on the proposed transfer of the land and the persons to whom those representations are made shall take them into account in any decisions or recommendations that they may make on the proposed transfer. 28 Village Land 1999 (6) Where the village transfer land (a) less than 250 hectares in exte nt, the village council shall pre pare and submit recommenda tions for the proposed transfer to the village assembly for it to approve or refuse and the vil lage assembly shall, meeting under section 103 (3) of the Local Government (District A uthorities) Act, 1982, consider the recommendations of the vi . Rage council and any represe ntations made by the district council of the area where the land is situate, and decide whe ther to approve or refuse to ap prove the proposed transfer; (b) greater than 250 hectares, the Minister shall, after consideri ng any recommendations made by the village assembly throu gh the Village Council, district council and any representati ons on the matter made by the village and district councils of the area where the land is situ ate, by resolution, signify his approval or refusal to approve .the proposed transfer. 29 No. 5 1999Village Land. (7) The Commissioner or an authorized officer shall be under a duty to attend a meeting of the village council or village assembly as the case may be to explain the reasons for the proposed transfer and answer questions thereon and any person who or a repre-I sentative of any organization which is proposing to use and occupy the village transfer land under a right of occupancy may, at the invitation of the village coun cil or village assembly as the case may be, address the meeting and answer ques tions if any about the proposed use of the land. (8) No Village transfer land shall be transferred until(a) the type, amount, method and timing of the payment of compensation has been agreed upon between (i) the village council and the Commissioner- or 30 . 1999Village Land (ii) where subsection (3) and (9) apply, the persons referred to in those subsections and the Commissioner; or if the matters of compensation(b) paragraphreferred in (a)to cannot be agreed until the High Court has agreed as an interim measure, pending final determination of the matters of compensation, to the payment of any sum on account which it proper thethinks by villageCommissioner to the council and personstheto referred to in subsection (3) as the case may be; or if general or reserved land is to(c) be exchanged with the village transfer land, that general or 31 No. 5 Village Land 1999 reserved land has been identified and is ready to be transferred to the village. (9) Where the relevant body under subsection (5) has, by resolution, approved the transfer of the village transfer land or a part of it, the President may exercise his Power to transfer that village land or a part of it to general or reserved land. (I 0) Where village transfer land or any part of it is Occupied by persons to whom subsection (3) applies, the President shall) where he is minded to exercise his Power to transfer that land to general or reserved land, determine whether those persons may continue to Occupy and use the and, subject to any terms and conditions, which he may Impose, or whether the rights Of those persons shall be Compulsorily acquired, to paymentthesubject of compensation, 32 1999Village Land (I 1) The President may direct that any compensation payable under this sec tion shall be paid by the person to whom or an organization to which the village transfer land which has been transferred to general land is granted by a right of occupancy. (I 2) The President may direct the Minister to appoint an inquiry under sec tion 18 of the Land Act into a proposed I transfer and where that inquiry has been appointed, no further action in accordance with this section shall be taken on that proposed transfer until after the inquiry has reported. (13) A transfer of village land to land shall begeneral or reserved notified in the Gazette and shall come into effect thirty days after the date of .the publication of the notice. ( 1 4) The provisions of this section shall be in addition to any provisions in any Ordnance or Act referred to in sec- tion 6 of the Land Act, 1999 which set - out the manner in which land is brought under any of those Ordinances or Acts and any powers which may be exercised under any of the provisions of those Ordinance or Acts shall be exercised in a manner which will ensure that the provisions . of this section are complied with. 33 1999Village LandNo. 5 5-- 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, 1999. Transfer of general or reserved land to village land 6.-(I) The Minister may declare any area of a village land to be hazard land subject to the provisions subsection . Declaration of hazard land of theNotwithstanding provisions of subsection (1), any local authority having jurisdiction in any village may advise the Minister to declare any of the Village Land as hazard Land if in its opinion it is necessary to do so. (3) For purposes of this Section, hazard land is land the development of which is likely to pose a danger to life or to lead to the degradation of or 34 (2) subsection (3) Village Land 1999 environmental destruction on that or contiguous land and includes but is not limited to (a) mangrove swamps and coral reefs; (b) wetlands and offshore islands in the sea and lakes; (c) land designated or used fo r the dumping of hazardous waste; (d) land within sixty metres of a river bank or the of anshoreline inland lake; (e) land on slopes with a gradient exceeding any angle which the Minister shall, after taking account of proper scientific advice, specify; (f) land specified by the appro priate authority as land whi wh should not be developed on account of its fragile na ture; . 35 1999No. 5 FlIkige Laid (g) land specified by the appro priate authority as being la nd which should not be de veloped on account of its e nviromental significance. (4) The declaration of any land hazard inbeshalllandbeto accordance with the provisions of this section. MinistertheWhere(5) considers that an area of land should be declared to be hazard land, in this section referred to as 'proposed hazard land' he shall publish a notice in the Gazette specifying theoflocationthe(a) proposed hazard land (b) the boundaries and extent of the proposed hazard a brief statement of the reasons for the proposed declaration; (c) 36 land 1999Village Land (d) the date being not less than sixty days from the date of the publication of thewhennotice,I the .declaration may be made. A COPY of the notice(6) .referred to in subsection (5) shall be all personsserved on(a) occupying and using the proposed hazard land in a manner and form as will tounderstandablebe those persons; authoritieslocalall(b) on having jurisdiction in the area of the proposed hazard land; conspicuousin(c) put UP places within the area of the proposed hazard land. 37 ; 1999Village LandNo. 5 (7) All persons and authorities on whom a notice has been served and all persons on whom and organizations on which a notice should have been served but was not and any other per- - son or organization with an interest in land may, within not less than thirty days after the date of the service of the notice, make representations to the Com- missioner on the proposed declaration and the Commissioner shall be under a duty to head and record the representa- tions and take them into account in de- termining whether to recommend to the Minister that the land or any part of it be declared to be hazard land, Where the Minister, after(8) considering a report prepared by the Commissioner under subsection (7) determines that the proposed hazard land or a part of it shall be declared to be hazard land, he may, subject to subsection (9), make a declaration accordingly. 38 1999Village Land (9) Where the proposed hazard land or a part of it is occupied and used by any person under a granted or customary right of occupancy, the Minister shall, if he considers that that land or a part of it should be declared to be hazard land, report the matter to the President. (10) The President may, after considering the report of the Minister, declare any land to which subsection (9) applies to be hazard land and any toshalldeclaration operatesuch tosubjectacquire,compulsorily compensation, any right of occupancy in that land. (I 1) A notice of a declaration of hazard land shall be published in the Gazette and shall come into force of theafter the datethirty days publication of the notice. 39 Village LandNO. 5 1999 PART IV VILLAGE LANDS A: Management and Administration 7.-(I) Village land shall consistVillage land o f land within the boundaries(a) of a village registered in thewithaccordance • .provisions of section 22 of Governmentthe Local (District Authorities) ActsAct No.7 1982-of 1982 11 land designated as village(b) land under the- Land Tenure Act No-27 (Village Settlements) Act, 1965;of 1965 ofboundariestheland,(c) beenhavewhich demarcated as village land orlawanyunder administrative procedure in 40 1999Village Land force at any time before this Act comes into operation whether that administrative oronbasedprocedure accordanceinconducted statute law orwith any general principles of either received or customary law applying in Tanzania and whether that demarcation has been formally approved or gazetted or not; ofboundariestheland,(d) which have been agreed upon between the village claimingcouncil jurisdiction over that land and landthewhere(i) surrounding . 41 1999Village Land contiguous thatto village is village land, the village councils theof contiguous village; (ii) where landthe surrounding or contiguous thatto village is general land, the Commissioner; or the .(iii) where land surrounding or contiguous to that village is reserved land, the official or public organization for the time being responsible fo r that reserved land; or (iv) thewhere land 42 1999Village Land which is claimed as a part of the land of, or is surrounding or contiguous to, that is landvillage which has been declared to be urban or peri-urbanland localland, the authority having jurisdiction over that urban land or peri-urban land; or where the land which(v) is claimed as a part of landthe of or is orsurrounding to, thatcontiguous village is land which is occupied and used 43 1999Village L andNo. 5 by a person or body under a right of thatoccupancy, person or body; (e) land, other than reserved land, which the villagers have been, during the twelve years precee ding the enactment of this Act regularly occupying and using as village land, in whatever ma nner such persons or the villa ge assembly or village council were allocated such land inclu ding land (0 lying fallow at any time during the said preceding twelve years; 44 Village Land 1999 (ii) used for depasturing cattle belonging to villagers or to persons using that land with the ofagreement the orvillagers in accordance with customary law; land customarily customarily(iii) land used for passage or land used for depas turing cattle. (2) Where a village claiming or occupying and using land as village land is unable to agree with or is in dispute with a person or body referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) as to the boundaries of the land which it is claiming or occupying and using as 45 Village Land 1999No. 5 village land, or wishes to determine the boundaries of the land it is occupying accordanceand using within paragraph (d) of subsection (1), the Minister shall, on being satisfied that every effort has been made to try and reach an agreement on the boundaries either appoint a person to act as a(a) thebetweenmediator village and the person or body with which the village reachtounableis agreement, the function of that person shall be to work persuade theandwith village authorities and that person or body to reach a theovercompromise boundaries; or 46 1999Village Land (b) where the mediator reports to the Minister that despite his best endeavors, he is unable to persuade the parties to the dispute to reach a compromise on the boundaries, Minister advise the to anappoint inquiry under section 18 of the Land Act to1999 adjudicate on and demarcate the boundaries of that village land. (3) An inquiry appointed under section 18 of the Land Act, 1999. to demarcateadjudicate and the boundaries of land shallvillage conduct such an inquiry in accordance specific directionswith any and procedures set out in the document 47 1999No. 5 Village Land appointing the person or persons to .conduct that inquiry. (4) Where the Minister has exercised any of his powers under subsection (2), all parties to a dispute shall forth with refrain from taking any action which may or is calculated or likely to affect the outcome of the dispute and where any party to a dispute takes such action, the mediatoror as the case may be the inquiry shall hold that action against the party that took it in conducting the mediation or as the case may be in determining anyrecommendations at the conclusion of . .the inquiry. The Minister shall, unless(5) there are overriding reasons of public interest to the contrary, accept the the inquiryofrecommendations 48 1999Village Land appointed paragraphunder (b) of subsection (2) as to the boundaries of the village land which was the subject of the inquiry. (6) The Commissioner shall issue to every village in respect of which the boundaries to village land have been demarcated or agreed in accordance with the provisions of this orsection or under any law administrative procedure referred to in this section, a certificate of village land in the prescribed form. (7) A certificate shall (a) be issued in the name of the President I (b) confer upon the village council the functions of management of the village 49 of village land No. 5 Village Land 1999 land I affirm the occupation and use of the village land by the villagers under and in accordance (c) with the customary law applicable to land in the area where the village is situate 9 (d) where the villagers are pastoralists or have a predominantly pastoral way of life, shall affirm the use, for purposes of depasturing cattle, of land other than village land which is customarily so used by those persons. (8) It shall be the responsibility of the village council of the village to which a certificate of village land has 50 Village Land 1999 been granted to maintain and at all times to keep secure that certificate of village land. (9) Where the boundaries of any village land are altered or amended, the Commissioner shall direct the village council of the village, the boundaries of whose land has been altered to send the certificate of village land to the Commissioner for endorsement on that of the oralterationcertificate amendment of the boundaries and the village council shall comply with that direction. The Commissioner shall(10) I maintain a register of village 'land in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed. References to the(I 1) boundaries of village land in this Part 51 1999No. 5 Village Land shall be to general boundaries. (12) A certificate or other document of registration issued to any village registered under the provisions of section 22 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982 shall, where the Ministry responsible for Lands approves that it satisfies the conditions for the grant of certificate of Act. No. 7 of 1982 Village Land, have the same effect and force as regards village land as a certificate of village land issued to a . village tinder this section. 8.-(I) The village council shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be responsible for the management of all Management of village land village land. (2) The Village council shall exercise functions inmanagementofthe 52 1999Village Land principlesthewithaccordance trustee managingatoapplicable property on behalf of a beneficiary as if the council were a trustee of, and the villagers and other persons resident in the village were beneficiaries under a trust of the village land. (3) In the management of village haveshalla village councilland, regard to (a) the principle of sustainable development thein management of village land and relationshipthe otherland use,between natural resources and the environment andin contiguous to the village and village land; 53 1999No. 5 Village Land (b) the need to consult with and take account of the views and, where it is so provided, com ply with any decisions or or ders of any public officer or public authority having juri sdiction over any matter in the area where the village land is; the need to consult with and take account of the views of other (c) authoritieslocal having jurisdiction in the area where the village land is. A village(4) council may establish a committee to advise and make recommendations to it on the exercise of any of the functions of the management of village land but, not withstanding the provisions of section Act No. 7 108 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982, such committee shall have no power to take of 1982 any decisions concerning the management of village land. 54 1999Village Land (5) A village council shall not al locate land or grant a customary right of occupancy without a prior approval of the village assembly. (6) A Village Council shall (a) at every ordinary meeting of the Village Assembly, report to and take account of the views of the Village Assembly on the manage-. ment and administration of the Village land; and (b) brief the Ward Develop-.ment Committee and the District Council, having jurisdiction in the area where the village is situa ted on the management of the village land; . (7) The Commissioner may give any advice, either generally to all village councils or to a specific village council on the management of village land which he considers necessary or desirable and all village councils to which that advice is given shall have regard to that advice. 55 1999No. 5 Village Land (8) Where on a complaint made to a district council by a village assem bly or by not less than one hundred vil I lagers that the village council is not exercising the function of managing vil jage land in accordance with this Act and other laws applying to village land or with due regard to the principles appli cable to the duties of a trustee, the dis trict council shall inform the Commis sioner of the matter and subject to any agreement he may make with that dis trict council, the council shall either, (a) advise the complainants to a micably settle the matter with the machinery of village or other local government autho rity to resolve the issue; or (b) through a full meeting of the district council, use its best endeavors to resolve the issu e and advise the village co. uncil as to its future conduct of the management of village land or; (c) request the Commissioner to issue a directive to the village council on the management of that village land which that village council shall be requ ired to comply with; or 56 1999Village Land (d) recommend to the Commissi oner on the appointment of an inquiry under section 1 8 of the Land Act,, 1999, to inves tigate the complaint and ma ke recommendations on it. 17 under(9) appointedinquiryAn paragraph (d) of subsection (7) may recommend to the Minister that the management of the village land be removed from the jurisdiction of the council the subject of thevillage either a fixed or anforinquiry indeterminate period and transferred to either (a) the district council having jurisdiction in the area where the village whose village council is being inquired into is situate; or the Commissioner.(b) 57 1999Village LandNo. 5 (10) Where the Commissioner, or an inquiry, determines that the village council has taken or omitted to take any action on village land which is contrary to law, the Commissioner shall take all such action as may be necessary to re-establish the lawful management of that village land and the proper allocation of interests in that v village land. The Minister in(I 1) may, withconsultation Ministerthe responsible for local government, by regulations, make arrangements for the management of village lands jointly between (a) two or more villages; or moreorbetween(b) one districtvillage theand council having jurisdiction thewherethe areain village or villages which 58 1999Village Land are part of anto be ofarrangement joint management are situate; or (c) between one moreor village and an urban authority within whose boundaries that village or those villages are situate, and that arrangement may provide for the Commissioner to be involved in that joint management of village land. iswhovillagerAny(12) ofthe managementbyaggrieved village land by a village council, including management by a village council as part of any arrangement for joint management has standing to sue that village council in respect of the management of that village land. 59 Village LandNo. 5, 1999 9.-(I)Advice by A district council may the District provide advice and guidance to any village council situate within its area of jurisdiction Council theconcerning administration by that village council of village land, either in response to a request for that advice and guidance from a village council or of its own motion and any village council to which that advice and guidance is given shall have regard to that advice and guidance. (2) No advice and guidance councila districtgiven by shall contradict or conflict with any directive or circular issued by the Commissioner under subsection (3) of Section II of' the Land Act, 1999. 10.-(l) Where any matter con cerning land in which any member of the village council exercising functions under this Act or any member of his im mediate family has an interest is allo Conflict of interest cated to, referred to or otherwise comes 60 1999Village Land to that member of the Village Council for his advice, assistance or decision that member shall not exercise any function under this Act in respect of that land. (2) For the purposes of this sec tion ''immediate family'' means, in rela tion to a person, any other person in third of a closer degree of affinity or consan guinity and where any person refferred to has more than one spouse, shall in clude all such persons to the fourth or closer degree of affinity thereto. (3) Where a conflict of interest arises in respect of administration of village land, any member of a village council who or a committee of the council dealing with land which is shallcovered by that description declare his conflict of interest and shall take no further part nor attend any meeting of the village council or its .committee where the land the subject of the conflict of interest is on the agenda, and any person who fails to declare that conflict of interest or who 61 No. 5 Village Land 1999 contravenes this Provision shall render himself liable disciplinaryto Proceedings applicable to a member of the village council. Joint village 11. -(l) In the exercise of the land use powers of management, villagea council shall have Power to enter into an agreement, to be known as a joint village land use agreement with any other village council concerning the use by any one or more groups of agreements between villages . by those groups, being the Land which . . .is Partly within the jurisdiction of one village and partly within the . jurisdiction Of another village with which an agreement is to be entered into and that mayagreement be amended, modified or varied from time .to time. 62 Village Land 1999 (2) Where an agreement which is referred to in subsection (1) is to be entered into, the village councils proposing to enter into that agreement shall (a) first, convene one or more meetings of the groups of the landpersons using which is to be the subject of the agreement (i) to give groups an opportunity to make representations about their use of land and the content of any agreement about that use; (ii) explain the nature, purpose and proposed content of that agreement to those groups; 63 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (b) second, prepare: a draft agreement which shall take account of any maderepresentations at any meeting convened under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a); (c) third, inform the district council or district councils having jurisdiction in the thearea where land covered by the proposed agreement is located of the contents of the draft agreement; (d) fourth, place that draft agreement before a meeting of the village assembly of each of the villages proposing to enter into an agreement for the approval Of each such village assembly. 64 1999Village Land An agreement made in(3) accordance with this section shall not isitand untiltake effect unless approved by each village assembly of the villages proposing to enter into that agreement. (4) An agreement made under and in accordance with this section may include matters concerning the boundaries of the land covered by the agreement; (a) the use of the land, or parts of it, by different groups of persons, and the (b) periods of time when that group may so use the land or part of it including arrangement for the dual use of land or part of it by ofgroupor moreone persons using that land for different purposes at the same time; .65 No. 5 1999Village Land the nature and scope of(c) any rights to or interests in land recognised by the rules of customary law applicable to the land covered by the agreement,, and where more than one set of rules of customary law are applicable to that theland, manner of resolving any conflict between the sets of rules (d) the manner of resolving disputes about the use of the land covered by the agreement; (e) any other matters which may be prescribed or which the village councils shall consider necessary and desirable. 66 1999Village Land An agreement reached by(5) villagers of two or more villages about the use, by those villagers jointly of village land which falls within the jurisdiction of two or more villages or an agreement reached between the traditional leaders of a ofgroup persons using village land which falls within the jurisdiction of two or more villages and the village councils of those villa&es may be adopted and approved as a joint village land use agreement by the village assembly of the village of those villagers or, as the case may be, of that village council. A district council having(6) jurisdiction in the area where the land covered by a proposed agreement is located may require the village council to place any comments which that district council may have about the proposed agreement before the meeting of the village assembly called to approve the agreement. 67 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Division of 12.-(l) A Village land shall be divided into-village land (a) land which is occupied and used or available for occupation and use on a community publicand known asbasis, to be communal village land, by all villagers and any other persons who are, with the agreement of the village andcouncil, living working villagein the whether those persons are occupying usingand under avillage land derivative right or not and that communal village land shall not be made available individualfor 68 Village Land 1999 occupation and use by any person through a grant of a communal or individual customary ofright occupancy or a derivative or anyright other disposition; (b) whichland beingis occupied or used by an individual or family or group of persons under. customary law; or land which may be made(c) available for communal or individual occupation and use through allocation by councilvillage- inthe accordance thewith provisions of this Part. (2) A Village land referred to in 69 1999Village LandNo. 5 paragraphs (b) and (c)--of--subsection (1) may be made the subject of a grant, in accordance with the provisions of this Part, by a village council to the occupier of that land or a citizen who is a villager or a group of citizens who are villagers or any other citizens who may be provided for in this Part, of a bycustomary right of occupancy, means of a document to be known as a I certificate of customary title'. (3) A Village land referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) may be made the subject of a derivative right invillage councilagranted by accordance with the provisions of this Part. 70 1999Village Land 13.-(I) The village council shall recommend to the village assembly what portions of village land shall be set aside as communal village land and Communal village land for what purposes. (2) The recommendations of the village council may be put forward as a land use plan for the(a) village or part of it; or (b) specific recommendations ofon specific portions village land- or partly in accordance with paragraph (a) and partly in accordance with paragraph (b) (c) (3) The District Council shall pro vide advice and guidance to village councils on the exercise of their func . tions under-this section. . 71 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (4) A village council shall, when exercising functions under this section, have regard to any advice and guidance provided under subsection (3). (5) On receipt of the recommendations of the village council under this section, the village assembly shall (a) approve; (b) approve with amendments; (c) refer back for further consideration; or reject ,(d) the recommendations and where the village assembly rejects the recommendations, the village council shall bring forward, as soon as may be, 72 Village Land 1999 different recommendations. The village council shall(6) register communalofmaintain a village land in accordance with any rules which may be prescribed. (7) Any land which has been set aside by a village council or village assembly for community or public I occupation and use or any land which i is and has been, since the formation of the village, habitually used whether as a matter of practice or under customary law or regarded by village residents as available for use as community or public land before the enactment of this Act, shall be deemed by this Act to be communal village land approved as such by the village assembly and shall be registered by the village council under subsection (6). 73 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Where there is a dispute(8) between a person occupying land which is claimed as communal village land under subsection (7) and the village council, the Minister may, on being satisfied that (a) the dispute becannot throughresolved the oforgans village government; or (b) the continuation of the dispute toloadmay serious disruption in the village, his powers or direct the ,exercise Commissioner to exercise his powers under the provisions of subsections (6) to (10) of section 8 of this Act in relation to that dispute. 74 1999Village Land Land which is14.-(I) Land which is or may be or may be heldoffor a customary rightheld for customaryoccupancy shall be any village land-(a) rights of11 any general land occupied(b) occupancy whopersonsby thebeforeimmediately coming into operation of this Act held that land I under and in accordance with a deemed right of occupancy. (2) It is hereby affirmed that, not withstanding any of the provisions of (a) the Town and Country Planni- Cap. 378 ng Ordinance, and Act No. 47(b) Part III of the Land Acquilsi of 1967tion Act, 1967, a person who occupies land in an urban or peri-urban area after the ma terialdate of declaration of a planning area and does not occupy that land as a tenant of another person to whom the Urban Leasehold (Acqu isition and Regrant) Act, 1968, could be applicable or under a granted right of oc 75 Village LandNo. 5 1999 cupancy, Occupies that land u nder a customary right of Occu pancy and shall where that land or part of it (3) For Purposes of sub-section (2) occupation by the family of the toclaiming have been inperson occupation for the specified time shall be deemed to be occupation by that person. (4) If any question arises as to whether a person in occupation of land is a person to whom the provisions of subsection (2) applies, that person shall be deemed to be the person unless the contrary is proved to the satisfaction of a court and he and all parties claiming under him or consistently with his Occupation shall be deemed to be entitled to compensation. (5) Any rights in relation to land which have been determined under Cap.389 section 6 of the Forests Ordinance to 76 1999Village Land be lawfully exerciseable within any area declared to be a forest reserve by any person or group of persons are hereby affirmed to be and to have always been rights arising from a customary right of occupancy. (6) of theIn section 8 Conservation AreaNgorongoro Ordinance, the reference to ''land held Cap-413 grantedunder a right of occupancy '' shall beunder the Land Ordinance , deemed to include land held under a customary right of occupancy. (7) Persons who traditionally and in accordance with customary law occupied and used land in any National land underPark in theor the jurisdiction theof Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority but who, since the enactment of the National Parks Ordinance and the Ngorogoro Cap.412 Conservation Ordinance may occupy Cap.413 77 No. 5 Village Land 1999 that land only with the permission of or under a licence from the Director of the National Parks or the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority shall be deemed to occupy that land under a customary right of occupancy. (8) Any person or group of persons occupying under theland provisions of section 5 of the Public Cap-338 Land (Preserved Areas) Ordinance, . shall be deemed to be occupying and to have always occupied that land under a customary right of occupancy. (9) Nothing in subsections (5), (6) and (7) shall affect the power of authorities exercising functions under the statutes referred to in those provisions from continuing to regulate the use of land by persons, who by virtue of this section, are occupying land under a ofcustomary right occupancy. 78 1999Village Land 15.-(I) An allocation of land made to a person or a group of persons resid ing in or required to move to and reside in a village at any time between the first Confirmation of validity of interests in day of Janury1970 and the thirty first land createdday of December 1977, whether made under and in pursuance of a law or con- under and by trary to or in disregard of any law, is hereby confirmed to be and to have al ways been a valid allocation capable of and in law giving rise to rights and obli gations in the party to whom the alloca tion was made and extinguishing any rights and obligations vested in any per son under any law which may have ex Operation vijiji isted in that land prior to that allocation. granted ofrightA(2) occupancy made to a person. or group of persons residing in or required to move to and reside in a village at any time between the first day of January 1970 and the thirty first day of December 1977 whether granted in accordance with the procedures of the Land Ordinance or not, and whether registered, under and in accordance with the provisions of Cap. 1 13 Cap.334the Land Registration Ordinance, or 79 No. 5 1999Village Land not is hereby confirmed to be and to have always been from the time of the grant a valid granted right and obligations in the grantee as from the date of the grant and extinguishing any rights -and obligations vested in any person under any law which may have existed in that land prior to that grant. (3) A written offer of a granted right of occupancy or a letter of offer of a granted right of occupancy issued by an officer authorized to do so, made to a person or group of persons residing in or required to move to and reside in a village between the first day of January 1970 and the thirty first day of December 1977, whether made in accordance with the provisions of the Land Ordinance or not, and whether registered under and in accordance with the provisions of the Registration Cap. 1 13 Cap. 1 17 of Documents Ordinance, or not is 80 1999Village Land' hereby confirmed to be and to have always been a valid offer or as the case may be, a valid letter of offer which may, at any time before first day of January 2000, be acted upon so as to create a right of occupancy which shall be a customary right of occupancy and that customary right of occupancy shall extinguish any rights and obligations vested in any person by any law which may have existed prior to the written offer of or the letter of offer for a granted right of occupancy. (4) The interest in land created by an allocation of land to which subsection (1) refers and the right of occupancy to which subsection (2) refers are hereby confirmed to be and to have always been a customary night of occupancy. (5) A person or group of persons who, by virtue of this section occupy land under a customary right of 81 Village LandNo. 5 1999 occupancy may, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Part, obtain a certificate of customary title in respect of that occupation of land. (6) Where a customary right of occupancy confirmed by subsections (1) and (2) or capable of being created under subsection (3) is or would be held in respect of an acreage of land which exceeds the maximum acreage of village land which a person is permitted under this Act to occupy, that customary right of occupancy shall, subject to the payment of any compensation or that grant of a right of occupancy in general land which is provided for by this Part, and taking account of the views of the customary right holder as to the portion of land to excessexercised as land,be be terminated in respect of that exercised 82 1999Village Land land by the village council exercising management powers over that village land. derivative right(7) Every granted out of a customary right of occupancy confirmed by this section is hereby confirmed to be and to have always been a valid derivative right in any manner it was created and to whom it was granted. (8) A derivative right referred to in subsection (7) which conflicts with any of the provisions of this Act relating to the persons to whom, the period for which and amount of land which a derivative right granted out of a customary right of occupancy is required to comply with, may subject to the payment of any compensation which is required by this Act and any other mayconditions which be 83 1999Village LandNo. 5 prescribed, be terminated by the village council having management powers over the land. (9) Where there is a dispute between two or more persons, family units or groups of persons as to which of the parties is entitled to land under any of the provisions of subsections (1), (2) or (3), the village council shall refer the matter to the Village Land Council to mediate between the parties and where the Village Land Council is unable to resolve the dispute between the parties, the village council shall refer the dispute to the Ward Tribunal and may further refer the matter to court having jurisdiction in the area where the Land is situated. (10) For the avoidance of doubt, this section does not apply to any right to occupy or use any land in accordance with any custom or rule of customary law existing in any village which existed 84 (a) Village Land 1999 before and was not established or transformed by the addition of significant numbers of persons from outside the district as a result of Operation Vijiji or in any land which was not brought within the jurisdiction of any village established as a result of Operation vijiji (b) any right to occupy and use land in accordance with any custom or rule of customary law which existed prior to first day of January 1970, where that right was being exercised. 85 No. 5 Village Land 1999 16. For the avoidance of doubtConfirmation and in order to facilitate security ofof-validity of allocations of thetoand contributetenure theof land,villagedevelopmentland made by village councils 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) since I January 1978 of that section, there were substituted 'between the first day ofthe dates ofdatetheand1978January commencement of this Act. non-villageA17.-(I)Occupation of organisation to which this Part appliesvillage land by is-non-village organisation 86 Village Land 1999 (a) a government department or any office or part of it; a public corporation or other parastatal body or any office, part, division or its subsidiary body; (b) (c) a corporate or other body, majoritya of whose members or shareholders are citizens registered or licensed to operate under any law for the time being in force in Tanzania to thatapplicable corporate or other body which does not consist of a majority of the members of the similarly subsidiary orvillage; any composed of that 87 Village Land 1999 efficient manner, he may, in writing delegate his functions of managing a right of occupancy to which this section applies to that village council subject to any conditions which he shall think fit to include in the instrument of delegation. (5) On and after the coming into operation of this Act, a non-village organisation which wishes to obtain a portion of village land for the better carrying on of its operations may apply to the village council for that land, and the village council shall recommend to the Commissioner for the grant or refusal of such grant. (6) Any association of persons formed in accordance with customary law for the purpose of occupying, using and land ormanaging any 89 NO. 5 Village Land 1999 association which has come together and is recognized with the community of which it is a part as an association of persons formed to occupy, use and manage land in an Urban or periurban area, shall, if the persons forming the association registers it in accordance with the provisions of the Trustees beIncorporation Ordinance,Cap.375 recognized as such by this Act and accordingly the provisions of that Ordi nance shall apply in relation to such as sociations. A customary right of18.-(l)Incidents of customary right occupancy is in every respect of equal of' occupancy status and effect to a granted right of occupancy and shall, subject to the provision of this Act, be capable of being allocated(a) 90 1999Village Land by a village council to a citizen, a family of citizens a group of two or more citizens whether associated together under any law or not a partnership or a corporate body the majority of whose members or shareholders are citizens; (b) in village land or reserved land; (c) capable of being of indefinite duration; (d) governed by customary law in respect of any dealings, be tween persons residing in or occupying and using land G) within the village having jurisdiction over that land; or (ii) where the customary of occupancyright has been granted in 91 No. 5 Village Land 1999 land other than village Land, contiguous to or surrounding the Land which beenhas granted for a customary ofright occupancy; subject to any conditions(e) which are set out in section 29 or as may be prescribed and to any other conditions which the village council having jurisdiction over that land shall determine; may be granted subject to a(f) premium and an annual rent, which may be varied from time to time; capable of being assigned(g) to a citizen or a group of citizens, having a 92 1999Village Land residence or place of business in villagethe where the land is situate, or a body corporate the majority of whose shareholders or members are citizens having a place of business in that village; inheritable(h) and transmissible by will. . liable, subject to the prompt(i) payment of full and fair compensation to acquisition by the state for public purposes in accordance with any law making provision for that action. (2) The Minister shall make regu lations prividing for an area of land which a person can hold under a single right Of Occupancy or derivative right of Occupancy or in any way otherwise dis posed of to any person or body of per sons. 93 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Incidents of a 19. Subject to the provisions of Part IX of the Land Act, 1999, a leaselease of aoutgrantedsubleaseaand customary right of occupancy shall be "customary lease'' andcalled a customary sublease'' as the case mayI be, and shall be governed by the customary law applying to the land out of which a lease or sublease, as the beenhasbe,may grantedcase provided that this section shall not be taken to affect any customaryAct No. I leaseholds enfranchised under the Nyarubanja Tenure (Enfranchisement) Act, 1965 or the customary Leaseholds (Enfranchisement) Act, 1968, or to per mit or sanction the reintroduction of any form of customary leaseholds similar in nature to Nyarubanja tenure. of 1965 Act No.47 of 1968 20.-(I) Subject to the provisions of this Act, Law applicable any matter concerning the to customary rights and obligations of a person, or a group of persons occupying land underright of a occupancy 94 Village Land 1999 customary right of occupancy or of any person in dispute with any persons referred to above or of any person alleging that he or she is entitled to succeed to or otherwise occupy that orthe deathon permanentland incapacity of a person occupying land under a customary right of occupancy or on another matter affecting land held under a customary right of occupancy and persons ordinarily resident in the village where the land is situate shall, where that matter is not otherwise provided for under this Act or any indeterminedenactmentother accordance with customary law. (2) Any rule of customary law and any decision taken in respect of land held under customary tenure, whether in respect of land held individually or com munally, shall have regard to the cus toms, traditions, and practices of the community concerned to the extent that 95 No. 5 Village Land 1999 they are in accordance with the provi sions of sections 9 and 9A of the Judi cature and Application of Laws ordi nance and Of any other written law and subject to the foregoing provisions of this subsection, that rule of customary law or any such decision in respect of land held under customary tenure shall be void and inoperative and shall not be given effect to by any village council or village assembly or any person or body of persons exercising any authority over village land or in respect of any court or other body, to the extent to which it de nies women, children or Persons with disability lawful access to ownership, oc cupation or use of any such land.'' I (3) theNotwithstanding Cap.453 provisions of the Judicature and Application of Law Ordinance no Act of the of theParliament United Kingdom referred to in that Ordinance shall apply to land held for a customary right O f Occupancy or otherwise governed by customary law. 96 Village Land 1999 The customary law which(4) shall be applied to determine any matters referred to in subsections (1), (2) and (3) shall be (a) in the case of a village not established as a result of vijiji theOperation customary law which has hitherto been applicable in that village; in the case of a village(b) established in whole or in resultaspart ofa vijiji theOperation customary law applicable in the village immediately before the extinguishing of customary rights in the land under any rules or 97 No. 5 Village Land 1999 regulations made under Act No. 14 the Rural Lands (Planning and Utilization) Act, 1973 or the enactment of Regulation of 1973 the Act No.22 of Land of 1997 Tenure (Established Villages) Act, 1992 I in the case of general land held for a customary right of (C) theoccupancy, customary law recognised as such by the persons Occupying that land; (d) in the case of any land customarily used by pastoralists, the customary law recognised as such by those pastoralists. (5) The grantor and grantee of of a derivative right may stipulate as a 98 1999Village Land condition of that derivative right that the law applicable to it shall be the provisions of Parts VI-11 Which relates to dispositions affecting land and Part IX which relates to leases of the Land Act 1999 and other relevant parts of the law of Tanzania to the exclusion of cu stomary law. Register of21.-(I) A village council shall village landmaintain a register of village land in accordance with any rules which may be prescribed by the Minister and the village executive officer shall be respon sible for keeping that register. (2) The village executive officer shall not make any entry on the register in respect of any customary right of -0-c cupancy unless and until he is satisfied that any premia, rent, taxes and dues payable in respect of that customary right of occupancy or that derivative right in 99 1999No. 5 Village Land respect of that customary right of occupancy or that derivative right in customary rulesaccordance with the applicable in that area have been paid and a receipt or acknowledgment for the same has been validly endorsed on the certificate of customary title or of that derivative right. (3) A registry for the purpose of under this section shall be arecords village branch of the district land registry for the district in which that personsallandsituateisvillage working in that District Land Registry shall fall under the jurisdiction and be subject to the supervision and direction of the Registrar. 100 1999Village Land B: Grant and Management of Customary Right of Occupancy Application for 22.-(I) A person, a family unit, customary right a group of persons recognised as such of occupancy under customary law or who have formedin village land themselves together as an co-operativeassociation, a primary society or as any other body recognised by any law which permits that body to be formed, who is or are villagers, or if a person who has beenmarried divorced from, or has left for not less than two years, his or her spouse, was, prior to the marriage, a villager, and all of whom are citizens, may apply to the village council of that village for a customary right of occupancy. (2) A person or group of persons not ordinarily resident in a village may apply for a customary right 101 No. 5 Village Land 1999 of occupancy. (3) An application for a customary right of occupancy shall be (a) made on a prescribed form signed-(b) (i) by the applicant; or (ii) where the application is made by a family unit, by not less than two persons from the family unit; or (iii) where the application is by a group of persons recognised as such under customary law, by not less than two persons who are 102 1999Village Land recognised by that law as leaders or elders of the group; or (iv) thewhere application is by a group personsof anformed into association, a co-primary operative society or a body under a law recogniseswhich that body, by not less than two duly authorised officers (v) where the applicant is a person or group of persons referred to in subsection (2), 103 No. 5 Village Land 1999 by not less than five villagers who are not related to any of those applicants- or 9 (vi) a duly authorised agent of any of the applicants referred to in paragraphs (i) to (iv); (c) supported by a declaration concerning any other land in. Tanzania held by the applicant; accompanied documents (d) by any and information which may be prescribed or which the village council may require; (e) accompanied by any fee 104 1999Village Land which may be prescribed; where the applicant is a person or group of persons M referred to in subsection accompanied by a(2) and witnessedsigned statement that the intendapplicants to establish or commence the construction of their principal place of residence in the village within three months of obtaining customarya right of occupancy; submitted to the village(g) council or its authorized officer. (4) A village council may require any applicant to submit any .105 No. 5 Village Land 1999 further relevant information which it may specify and shall not be obliged to determine an application until that further information has been submitted or a satisfactory explanation has been as to furthersubmitted thatwhy information cannot be submitted. Determination 23-41) A village council shall, within ninety days of the submission of an application or within ninety days of the submission of further information or a satisfactory explanation for its non-availability, of application for customary right of occupancy determine that application. (2) In determining whether to grant a customary right of occupancy, the village council shall (a) comply with the decisions that have been reached by 106 1999Village Land . any committee or other body on the adjudication of the boundaries to and rights in the land which is theofsubjectthe aforapplication ofrightcustomary occupancy; anytoregardhave(b) thefromguidance Commissioner concerning an application from a non village organisation; have special regard respect of the equality of in(c) all persons, such as treat an application(i) from a woman, or a group of women no less favorably than 107 No. 5 Village Land 1999 equivalentan application from a ofaman, group mixedmen or a group of men and women; and (ii) adopt or apply no adverse discriminatory orpractices towardsattitudes any woman who has aforapplied customary right of occupancy; (d) where the application is from a non-village organisation, the village council shall seek gui I dance from the Commissio . I. ner who shall have regard to 108 1999Village Land whichadviceany(i) has been given to the application by the district council or as the case may urbanthebe havingauthority in thejurisdiction thewherearea village is situate; (ii) the contribution that non-villagethe hasorganisation hasormade undertaken to make to the community and public facilities of the village; 109 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (iii) the contribution to the national economy and well-being that the de velopment for which the right of occupancy is being applied for is likely to make; whether the amount(iv) of land in respect of non-which the village organisation is seeking a right of oc cupancy is so extensive or is located in such an area that it will or is li kely to impede the pre sent and future occupa tion and use of village land by persons ordi narily resident in the vi Ilage; mattersotherany(v) which bemay prescribed; where the application is(e) from a person or group of persons ordinarily resident in the village, have regard to 110 1999Village Land where(i) the applicant already occupies village land under a customary right of occupancy whether the allocation of additional land under a right ofcustomary occupancy would cause that applicant to exceed the prescribed amount of land which a person or group of persons may oc cupy in that village; the f where applicant(ii) already occupies aunderland customary right of occupancy, whether all the terms and conditions subject to which that right of isoccupancy held and all other regulations relating . to the use of that III No. 5 Village Land 1999 land have been strictly complied with and if they have not, the reasons for any non compliance 9 (iii) whether the applicant has or is likely to be able to obtain access to the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to use the land applied for productively and in accordance with the terms and conditions subject to which the customary right of 112, Village Land 1999 occupancy will be granted and all regulationsother applying to the use of the land for which the right of occupancy is being applied for; and(iv) the extent manner in which the applicant, if an intendsindividual, to make provision for any dependants that the applicant may have or will, if the applicant dies, have, out of the land; mattersany other( V) 113 No. 5 Village Land, 1999 which may be Prescribed (f) where the applicant is a I person or group of persons referred to in subsection (2) of section 21 (i) the amount and location of the land the applicant is applying for; (ii) the Purpose for which the applicant is intending to use the land and whether that purpose accords with any village development or land use plan; the matters referred(iii) 114 1999Village Land to in subparagraphs of(i) and (iii) paragraph (d); and subparagraphs (iii) of(iv)and paragraph (e); mattersotherany(iv) bewhich may prescribed. (3) A village council shall, after inapplicationanconsidering accordance with subsection (2) grant in respect of all or a part of the land applied for subject to any conditions which (a) are set out in section prescribed the village council(ii) 115 29 or which may be (i) No. 5 Village Land 1999 is directed by the Commissioner to impose in respect of a grant to a non village Organisation; and may be prescribed-(iii) I or (b) refuse to grant, a customary right of occupancy to the applicant. (4) Where an application is refused, the village council shall, at the request of the applicant, furnish that applicant with a statement of reasons for the refusal. Contract for a 24.-(I) Where a village council customary right has determined to grant a customary of occupancy right of occupancy to an applicant, it 116 1999Village Land shall send or deliver to the applicant an offer signed by thein writing, chairman and secretary of the village council, in a prescribed form, setting out the terms and conditions subject to which it will grant that customary right of occupancy to that applicant. Where an applicant has(2) received an offer in writing under subsection (1), he shall, within not more than ninety days, reply in writing person personsthe orsigned by required under paragraph (b) of subse ction (3) of section 21 to sign an appli cation for a customary right of occu pancy to that offer in the prescribed form either accepting that offer- or(a) 11 thatto accept(b) refusing offer 117 No. 5 1999Village Land and send or deliver that reply to the (3). Where the acceptance of an offer made under subsection (1) is conditional Upon the payment of a sum Of money by way of a premium, an advance payment of rent, a deposit or any tax or due to the village council or any other person or Organisation named in the offer, that acceptance shall not operate to conclude a contract for the grant of a rightcustomary of occupancy unless and until that sum of money is paid in full to the payee. (4) A payee. who has received a sum of money under subsection (3) shall immediately provide, a receipt for that payment to the person who has made that payment. (5) Where, at any time after the 118 village council or its authorized officer Village Land 1999 conclusion of a transaction it is shown to the satisfaction of that person or organisation. charged with the 'preventingresponsibility for or combating corruption that any part of the process of obtaining a customary right of occupancy was effected by a corrupt practice, that customary right of occupancy shall without any further action, and notwithstanding any other rule of law to the contrary, be deemed to be void and of no effect and the grantee of that void customary right of occupancy shall, without prejudice to any action which may be-taken against that person under any law dealing with immediatelycorruption, become a trespasser on that land, liable ~ to suffer all such action and penalties applicable to trespassers 119 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Grant of a 25.-(I) Where a contract for a ofcustomary grant a customary right of hasright of occupancy been concluded, a occupancy village council shall, within not more than ninety days of that conclusion, grant a customary right of occupancy to the Applicant who accepted the offer referred to in section 23 by issuing a certificate, to be known as a certificate of customary right of occupancy to that applicant. (2) A certificate of customary right of occupancy shall be (a) in a prescribed form; (b) signed by the chairman and secretary of the village council; (c) signed or marked with a personal mark by the 120 1999Village Land grantee of the customary of, occupancy toright which it relates at the foot theofpageeachof certificate; andsigned, sealed(d) registered by the District Land officer of the district in which the village is situate. Paymet26.-(I) Subject to the provisions of pre-of subsection (3), (4), and (5) of section 17, the village council may require the payment of a premium on the grant of a right of occupancy to a non-village Or ganization or a person or group of per sons referred to in subsection (3) of sec tion 22.' m i u in on grant of a right of 0 c C u pancy to a non (2) In determining the amount village organi-of any premium, the village council shall seek and take account of the advice of the Commissioner, who in giving that advice which may be in the zation form of published advice to all village 121 Village LandNo. 5 1999 councils shall have regard to the principles governing the determination of a premium in respect of granted rights of occupancy set inout subsection (3) of section 31 of the Land Act,, 1999. (3) Where the payment of a premium as aforesaid is required, a demand for that payment shall be sent or delivered to the person to whom the certificate of customary title is to be sent or delivered at the same time as or that certificate is sent or , delivered to that person. (4) No certificate of right of oc I cupancy shall be valid or of any effect and no occupation of land under a con tract for a right of occupancy or other 'wise shall be lawful until a premium which has been demanded in accordance with subsection (2) has been paid in full or in any other way which may be pro vided in the contract for the grant of a right of occupancy. 112 before 1999Village Land, (5) Where -it has been provided under a contract for a customary right of occupancy that a premium may be paid in instalments or in some other manner than in full at the time of or before the issuing of a certificate of customary right of occupancy, and failure to comply with any term of that I contract shall be deemed to be a failure to comply with a condition of the right of occupancy which shall give rise to revocation by the village Council, 27.-(I) A customary right ofLength of term occupancy may be granted-of customary for a term which may be(a)right of indefinite or any length ofoccupancy time less than an indefinite term to a person who is a ofa groupcitizen, or 123 No. 5 Village Land 1999 persons all of whom are citizens provided that there shall be a presumption that, that per son or group of persons, shall be granted a customary right of occupancy for an idefinite term 9 (b) for a term together with an op tion for a further term or terms which together with the original term may be up to but shall not ex ceed ninety-nine years; (c) from year to year or for periods of less than a year determinable by the village council by one noticeyear's or less, whether or not the grant includes an initial fixed term does not exceed four years. 124 1999Village Land (2) Where a right, of occupancy has been granted.. for a term certain, with or without an option for a further term or terms certain' no reduction in the length of that term certain or the term or terms certain contained in the option or options shall be made to or introduced in the option or options shall be made to or introduced into that right of occupancy by the village council without the agreement of the occupier. Rent 28.-(I) The village council may require the payment of an annual rent (a) for a right of occupancy from a person or group of persons reffered to in subsection (2) of section 23, (b) from a non-village organiza tion, subject to the provisions of subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 17. 125 No. 5 1999 (2) The rent-shall be paid in any instalments and at any intervals of time during the year which shall be provided in the, certificate of customary title. (3) The rent shall be paid to the village council or an authorized officer of that council and a signed receipt in respect of each payment of rent that is made shall be given to the payer of that rent. (4) In determining the amount of any rent, the village council shall (a) withcomply any thedirectives from Commissioner on the amount of, or the method of, or-the factors to take into account in, determining the amount of any rent which is to be paid; 126' Village land 1999!Village, Land (b) where no ~ such directives have takebeen issued, account of any advice given by(i) the Commissioner on the amount of, or the method of or the factors to take into account in determining any rent which is to be paid; (ii) the use of land permitted by the customary right of occupancy which has been granted; (iii) the value of land as evidenced by any dispositions of land in the area where 127 No. 5. Village Land 1999 the customary right Of occupancy has been granted, whether those dispositions were made in accordance with customary law or not; (iv) an assessment by a qualified and authorised valuer or other person with knowledge of the value of land of the appropriate amount of rent which should be paid for land the amount of any(V) Premium required to be paid on the grant 128 1999Village Land of a customary right of occupancy. (5) Notwithstanding anything to contrarythe contained in any customarycertificate of right of occupancy or in any of the provisions of any conditions of a customary right of occupancy, in every case in which villagethe council requires the payment of a rent, that council shall, subject to the approval of the haveCommissioner, the power to revise that rent at intervals of not less than five years and in any exercise of that power, the determination of any revised rent shall be in accordance with subsection (4). (6) Where the village council determines to grant a customary right of occupancy to any person or organisation of land which is to be 129 No. 5 Village Land 1999. used exclusively for religious worship or for burial or exclusively both for religious worship and for burial, that council shall not require the payment of any rent in respect of that customary right of occupancy. (7) The village council may grant a customary right of occupancy at a nominal rent if the land is to be used exclusively for a charitable purpose by non-villagea organisation and is empowered to review and increase that rent if the land ceases to be used exclusively for a charitable purpose. (8) Where any rent or instalment of any rent payable in respect of a customary right of occupancy or any part of that rent or instalment remains unpaid for a period of six months after the date on which the same is required to be paid, interest at a rate of two per centum. a month or part of it', or at any 130 1999Village Land other rate which the Minister may by order published in the Gazette prescribe, shall be payable on the amount of the arrears as it is from time to time until payment of the whole amount is made from the date from which the rent or in stalment first fell into arrears and shall be collected and recoverable in the same manner as rent. (9) The acceptance by or on behalf of the village council of any rent shall not be held to operate as a waiver by that council of any right to revoke the customary right of occupancy accruing by reason of the breach of any covenant condition,or express or implied in any contract for a customary right of occupancy or in any certificate of customary title granted under this Act. The provisions of section(10) 0 50 of the Land Act, 1999 in relation to the summary proceedings for recovery of rent shall apply to rent due and 131 No. 5 Village Land 1999 owing under this Part as they apply to rent due and owing under Part VI of the Land Act, 1999 Conditions 29.-(I) Every customary right of occupancy shall be granted subject to the conditions set out in this section and any other conditions which may be prescribed. (2) Every grant of a customary right, of occupancy shall contain the implied conditions that (a) the occupier will use and will take steps to ensure that those persons occupying and working himthe land with or occupying and working the land with his permission will 132 1999.Village Land keep and maintain(i) goodinthe land state; and i the case of land(ii) forbe usedto farm thefarming, land in accordance with the practice of husbandrygood customarily used in the area; and in case of land to be(iii) pastoralforused use thepurposes, land in a- sustainable inmanner accordance with the bestandhighest customary 133 No. 5 Village Land 1999 principles of pastoralism practised in the area; (b) any permissions that are required to be obtained before any buildings are erected will be obtained and no building will be erected until those permissions have been so obtained; (c) the occupier will pay any rent, fees, charges, taxes and other required payments due in respect of his occupation of the land as and when such imposts fall due; (d) the occupier will comply 134 1999Village Land includingwith all rules, all rules of customary law and all by-laws applicable to the land and all lawful and directionsorders given to him by the village council personor any acting with the authority councilvillagetheof relating to his use and occupation of the land or any orders of any local or havingauthorityother jurisdiction over land in' the area where the land is situate or any orders of officer exercisingany powers under this Act; the occupier will retain and keep safe all boundary (e) 135 1999No. 5 Village Land marks, whether natural or otherwise on or at the boundaries to the land; the occupier will remain residing in the village but where (f) ishe to be temporarily willabsent, make all proper arrangements for the land to be managed and used in accordance with the conditions set out in this subsection. (3) A person who sign's, a customarycertificate of ofright occupancy in theaccordance with provisions of section 24 shall, where he signs on his own behalf, be deemed to have bound himself and, be deemed to have bound that group of village 136 1999Village Land organisation, be deemed to have bound that group of persons to the village coun cil to observe and comply strictly with each and every condition contained in that certificate of customary right of oc cupancy. (4) The Commissioner and any authorized officer of the village council or other department of government. ofprovisionssubject to themay, section 170 of the Land Act, 1999 relat ing to the right of entry enter on land the subject of customary right of occupancy and inspect whether the conditions under which the customary right has been granted are being complied with. A villager or group ofAssignment of 30.-(I) villagers or a lender of monies on the security of a mortgage exercising the powers of sale provided for by sections 131 to 133 of the Land Act, 1999 in re lation to power of sale may assign a customary right of occupancy in the land held for that customary right of occu pancy or a part of it to customary right of occupancy by villager 137 1999Village LandNo. 5 a villager or a group of(a) villagers; the village council;(b) ofgrouporpersona(c) persons, being citizens, to (2)subsectionwhom applies. aofassignmentAn(2) customary right of occupancy may be made to a person or group of persons not ordinarily resident in a village if and only if councilvillagethe(a) theofapproves assignment; there is an agreement prior(b) to the assignment; in event of termination of(C) theagreementthe assignment shall be made to a citizen. 138 1999Village Land (d) person or thethat authorized representative of that group of persons asignandmake deposition that he or they will make that village his or their principal place of or work orresidence thecommence of oneconstruction or more houses to be a principal place of residence within six months of that deposition; or (e) that person or that group of persons make and sign a deposition that he or they will sixwithin months of the making of that deposition commence the construction of some 139 No 5 Village Land 1999 industrial, commercial or other building which is likely to Provide benefit for villagers or the village; or that person or that group(f) of persons make and sign a deposition that he or withinthey intend six months of the making of depositionthat to Commence some agricultural,, mining, tourist or other development which is likely to Provide benefit to villagers or the village. proposed(3) toThe parties a assignment shall notify the village council on a prescribed form of that Proposed assignment not less than sixty days before it is proposed. 140 1999Village Land The village council shall(4) disallow an assignment which (a) resultwould in the assignee anOccupying amount of land in excess of the prescribed maximum for that village; (b) would operate or would be likely to operate to defeat the right of any woman to landoccupy under a ofrightcustomary, a derivativeoccupancy, right or as a successor in title to the assignor; (c) would result in the assignor Occupying an amount of land insufficient to provide for his livelihood or where he 141 No. 5 Village Land 1999 has familya or other fordependants, their livelihood; (d) is to be made to a person ofor group persons referred to in subsection (2) and (i) those persons have not made the required deposition; or (ii) the village council is in possession of clear evidence that, notwithstanding that a deposition has been made, the person or persons who made the deposition do not intend to comply with it; 142 1999Village Land (e) is to be made to a person who occupies land under a ofcustomary right occupancy but is and has been for not less than six months in breach of (i) one or more terms and conditions subject to which he occupies land under that customary right Of occupancy; or any rules applicable(ii) to the land or the use of the land which he occupies under that customary right of occupancy; does not comply with any(f) other matters which may be prescribed. 143 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (5) Where a village council determine to disallow an assignment, it shall send or deliver to the parties within sixty days of the receipt of a a noticenotice of assignment, to disallow the proposed assignment in the prescribed form. (6) An assignment that infringes the criteria set out in subsection (4) or that is made notwithstanding the service of a notice to disallow on one or both parties to the assignment shall be void. (7) A village council shall (a) send a copy of any notification of assignment and any notice to disallow to the Commissioner; (b) record any assignment of a customary right of 144 Village Land 1999 notice to disallow in ofthe register village land. This section. applies to31.-(I) the disposition, by the holder of a certificate of occupancy or right of occupancy, of a derivative right in the land held for a customary right of Approval private disposition of derivative occupancy.right aofdispositionA(2) derivative right to which this section applies shall comply with the provisions(a) section and theof this sections 32 and 33; be void if the provisions of(b) the sections referred to in notare(a)paragraph complied with. 145 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Unless otherwise provided(3) for by this Act or regulations made under this Act, a disposition of a therequireshallrightderivative approval of the village council having jurisdiction over the village land out of which that right may be granted. The grant of a lease,(a)(4) a licence, a usufruct or an equivalent interest in customary law from year to year or for a lesser period to a person ordinarily residing in the village from a person ordinarily residing in the 146 1999Village Land village; and The creation of-(b) G) a small mortgage; or a mortgage for an(ii) amount equal to or less than the amount smallfor which a bemaymortgage created; or mortgage,a(iii) reasonable sale or pledge under and in withaccordance inlawcustomary favour of a person residingordinarily in the village by a ordinarilyperson theinresiding village for a sum not 147 No. 5 Village Land 1999 greater than the sum which may be obtained by a loan through a small mortgage; (iv) a lease for not more than ten years by a lender excising the powers of leasing contained in section 29 of the Land Act, q 1999 relating to the lender's power of leasing; shall not require the approval of the village council. (5) An application for approval to a grant of a derivative right shall be made to the village council(a) on a prescribed form; 148 Village Land 1999 signed by the applicants; accompanied by a simple plan showing the location and boundaries of the land (b) (c) and furtherany information which may be prescribed; accompanied by any fees(d) which may be prescribed. The village council may(6) require relevant information additional referred inthat is toto which subsection (5) and shall not be under determine antoobligationany application in respect of which it has required additional information until that additional information has been satisfactoryto it or asubmitted that additionalof whyexplanation information cannot be submitted to it has been submitted to it. 149 Village LandNo. 5 1999 (7) The village council may consult with any person-or organisation on an application for an approval to which this section applies but shall not be obliged to accept any advice received as a result of any consultation, nor, shall it be obliged to delay a determination on the application where it has requested for an advice within a certain time and that advice has not been submitted within that certain time. (8) An approval of a derivative right under this Section shall personal to the applicant; and not be assignable. (9) An approval of a derivative right shall be in the prescribed form to 150 (a) (b) (a) Village land 1999 be known as a 'certificate of approval to a derivative right' with specificthe derivative right for which approval has been given named in brackets; signed by the chairman(b) and secretary of the village council; accompanied by a demand(c) rent,any premiurn,for taxes or dues which may whichorprescribedbe may be determined by the village council; delivered- bysentor(d) letterregistered theto holder of the certificate of ofrightcustomary histo lastoccupancy 151 1999Village landNo. 5 known abode or his usual place of business; (e) entered in a register of appeals to be kept by the village council. (10) A derivative right shall be termsmade subject to any and conditions which may be prescribed or which the grantor shall determine. Where the derivative right(I 1) permits the grantee to occupy and use any land in the village, that occupation and use shall subjectbe to the provisions of section 29 of this Act. (12) A derivative right may be registered in the register of village land and that registration shall constitute(a) notice of the existence and content of that derivative right; 152 Village Land 1999 confer(b) priority thaton derivative right as against any derivative right created out of the same customary ofright occupancy before the registered derivative right which has beennot registered, whether or not that createdprior derivative right was known to the grantee of the later created derivative right. Grant of This section applies to32.-(I) the grant by a village council of a derivative right in village land. derivative right by village (2) An application for a grant of a derivative right shall be-council (a) made to the village council 153 1999Village LandNo. 5 on a prescribed form (b) bysigned the party applying for the derivative right or his duly appointed agent or representative; accompanied by(c) simple plan showing the location and boundaries of the land and any other information which may be prescribed or which may be required by the village council 9 (d) accompanied by any fees which may be prescribed; notified to the members of(e) the village by any means which willof publicity bring the matter to their attention. (3) The village council may 154 1999Village land informationrelevantrequire any inreferred toto thatadditional paragraph (c) of subsection (2) and shall not be under any obligation to determine an application in respect of which additional information has been required until that information has been aor satisfactoryittosubmitted explanation as to why it cannot be . submitted has been submitted to it. The village council may(4) consult with any person or organisation on an application made for a derivative right under this section but shall not be obliged to accept any advice which it obtains as a result of any consultation, nor, shall it be obliged to delay making a determination if it has requested for an advice within a specific period and that advice has not been received within that period. 155 Village Land 1999No. 5 (5) An application for the grant of a lease under this section of five hectares or less and(a) for five years or less, to be classknown as Aa shallapplication, be determined by the village council; of more than five but less'(b ) than thirty hectares and for more than five but less tothan ten beyears, a class Bknown as shallapplication, be determined by the village council subject to approval by the village assembly; thanmoreof thirty(c) 156 Village Land 1999 hectares or for more than ten years, to be known as a class C application, shall be determined by the village council subject to approval by the village as sembly and the advice of the Commissioner. (6) (a) A Class A application shall be (i) determined Within sixty days of the receipt of the application or within sixty days of the receipt of additional information required under subsection (3); deemed to(ii) be 157 No. 5 Village Land 1999 approved theif village council does not determined it within the period referred to in paragraph (i); (b) A class B application shall be (i) determined by villagethe council upon that determination being submitted for approval to the village assem-. bly within ni nety days of the 158 Village Land 1999 receipt of the application or within ninety of thedays receipt of additional information required under subsection (3); submitted to(ii) villagethe assembly not less than seven days before the atmeeting which that application is 159 No. 5 Village Land 1999 to be consi dered for ap proval; (iii) approved or re fused by the vi Rage assembly within thirty days of the pe riod referred to in paragraph (i); (iv) deemed to be determined in accordance with the decision of the village council if it is refused by the 160 1999Village Land village assembly thewithin periods referred to in paragraph (i),, A Class C(c) application shall be determined by(i) villagethe council and that determination tosubmitted villagethe toassembly be considered approvalfor 161 11999Village Land village assembly thewithin periods referred to in paragraph (i); A Class C(c) application shall be determined by(i) villagethe council and that determination tosubmitted villagethe toassembly be considered approvalfor 161 No. 5 Village Land 1999 within one hundred and twenty days of the receipt of the application or within one hundred and twenty days of the receipt of additional information required under subsection (3); (ii) submitted to the village assembly not thanless 162 1999Village Land fourteen days thebefore atmeeting thatwhich application is beto considered for approval; orapproved(iii) refused by the village assembly sixtywithin theofdays periods referred to in paragraph (i); tosubmitted(iV) the Commissi 163 Village LandNo. 5 1999 oner, together allwith information for his advice if any within thirty days of the approval by the asse-village mbly; approved or(v) refused by the village council within thirty ordays any longer period which may be determined by village 164 I Village Land council ; (vi) deemed to be refused if the Commissison er advises the village council against it and villagethe council agrees himwith within two I andhundred orten days any longer whichperiod is referred to paragraphin of the(v) receipt of the 165 1999 No. 5 village Land 1999 application by the village council or of the receipt by the village council of additional information required under subsection (3); (7) A grant of a derivative right under this section shall be (a) personal to the applicant; (b) not assignable without the consent of the village co uncil after the approval of the village assembly. (8) An application for -an approval to assign a derivative right .166 1999Village Land granted under this section shall be made on a prescribed form and shall comply in every respect with and be governed by the provisions of this section as if it were an application for a grant of a derivative right. (9) A grant of a derivative right shall be in the prescribed form;(a) signed by the chairman(b) and secretary of the village . council; (c) accompanied by a demand for any premium, rent, fees, taxes and dues which are prescribed, or which may be determined by the village council; where it is the grant of a(d) lease for which a Class C 167 No. 5 Village Land 1999 application had been made, counter-signed theby Commissioner and shall unless and until it is so counter signed, be void; delivered or sent to the applicant at his last known abode or usual address; entered in the register of village land. (e) (10) A grant of a derivative right under this section shall be made subject to section 29 and such other terms and conditions as may be prescribed or as are determined by the village council. 168 1999Village Land 33.-(I) A village council and, in respect of a Class B and Class C application under section 32, a village assembly, shall, in determining whether to give approval to a private disposition of a derivative right under section 34 or to grant a derivative right under section 32 have regard to all or any of the following matters which appear to the village council to be Criteria for determining application for approval or a grant of a derivative right application, that is to say (a) any land use plan prepared or in the process of being prepared by or for the village; (b) the likely benefits to be derived by the village as a whole by the grant of the derivative right; the need to ensure the(c) 169 No. 5 1999Village Land, maintenance of sufficient . forlandofreserve , byuseoccupation, and forandvillagers community and public use by those persons; the need to ensure that the(d) special needs of women for land within the village... ... is and will continue to be adequately met; the need to ensure that the special needs of landless .(e) people and the disabled willwithin the village continue to be adequately met; any advice received from any person or organisation which has been consulted 170 1999 on the application 9 any advice or information(g) given by any department governmentof on the application; (h) any other matters which may be prescribed. (2) Where the derivative right which is the subject of an application is a lease for more than ten years to be granted by a lender exercising the powers of leasing contained in section 128, of the Land Act, 1999 relating to Lenders power of leasing there shall be a presumption that, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), Approval will be given to the lease and notwith standing the provisions of subsection (3), that approval will be deemed to have been given if the village council have not made a decision on the application within sixty days of the receipt. 171 Village Land Village LandNo. 5 1999 A village council shall, in(3) determining an application under sections 31 and 32 subject(a) grant, to any conditions which may be prescribed or determined by the village council; or (b) refuse, the application and unless this Act provides otherwise, a failure to make a decision within the time specified in this section shall operate as a refusal. to .approve an application. (4) Where a consent to a grant of a derivative right is refused by a village council or, in the case of a class B or class C application made under section 172 1999Village land 32 is not confirmed by the village in classcase aassembly , or C application, is not confirmed by the Commissioner, the village council or as the case may be the Commissioner shall, at the request of the applicant furnish that applicant with reasons for the refusal or non-confirmation of that application. Duties of 34.-(I) A grantee of a derivative right shall pay all the premia, rent, taxes and dues which are required to be paid in connection with that grant and no such grant shall be valid or effective to transfer, any ,interest in, any village land or give rise to grantee of derivative right any rights in the grantee unless and until all the premia, rent, taxes and dues have been paid accordingly. 173 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (2) The chairman and secretary of the village council or any other officer of the village council to whom any premia, rent, taxes or dues are required to be paid under this section shall endorse and sign a receipt for that premium, rent, tax or due on the certificate of the grant of the derivative right. (3) A grantee of a derivative right shall comply with terms(a) all the and conditions subject to which the derivative right has been granted all lawful orders issued(b) and all bye-laws made by the village council of the village having jurisdiction over the land subject to the 174 1999 Village land derivative right or any, local or other authority having jurisdiction over land in the area or any orders issued by an official exercising powers under any law in the United Repu blic; (c) all directives issued to him by any public officer or public body exercising powers u nder any Act, if the derivative right is a lease for which a class C application was made. (4) A grantee who does not comply with the provisions of this section shall be liable to suffer the termination of his derivative right. 175 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Surrender of 35.-(I) A villager or group of customary villagers or any other person or Persons holding a customary right of occupancy, may, subject right of Occupancy to the provisions of this by villager section, at any time Surrender the customary right of occupancy which has been granted to him or them. (2) A Surrender of land held under a customary right of Occupancy, whether made in accordance with Customary law or otherwise which has or which it is reasonable to deduce has its Purpose or its effect the depriving, or the placing Of impediments in the Way of a woman from Occupying land which she would, but for that surrender of land, be entitled to occupy under customary law or otherwise shall not operate and shall be of no effect to I prevent that woman from Occupying 176 1999Village Land that land in accordance with customary law, or otherwise. A surrender of land held(3) under a customary right of occupancy, within accordancemadewhether customary law or otherwise which has or which it is reasonable to deduce has theeffector itspurposeas its ordishonest unjustfraudulent, deprivation of a derivative right-holder of his derivative right shall not be a valid surrender and shall not operate to right-holder of histhatdeprive derivative right. in(4) Anybody referred to subsection (1) who surrender land held under a customary right of occupancy shall remain liable to pay all rent, interest on a loan taken out on the security of the customary right of 777 Village LandNO. 5 1999... ... and due, for payment at the time of the I surrender. of the customary right of occupancy;and A(a) village council shall continue to be able to exercise all the. powers provided for by this Act to recover rent owned by an occupier of land held for a customary right of occupancy;and (b) a lender who has lent money on the security of the ofcustomary right to be able to exercise all ... the powers of a lender in respect of that loan... 178 occupancy, taxes fees and dues owing occupancy shall continue 1999Village Land (5) Any person. who surrenders a customary 'right, of occupancy shall remain liable for any breaches of any conditions . subject to which the customary right of occupancy: was granted and for breaches of any rules relating to the use of that land which occurred during the occupation or to the use of the land for which he was responsible up to the time of the surrender of the customary right of occupancy. (6) Where a villager surrenders a rightcustomary of occupancy for reasons of age, infirmity, disability, poverty or other similar grounds, the Village council may, take over from that villager the responsibility for paying any debt& to which subsection (4) refers. 179 No. 5, Village Land 1999 (7) A surrender of a customary of occupancy shall be-right . on.(a) amade prescribed form; (b) signed by the person or the authorized representatives of the group of persons surrendering the customary right of occupancy; accompanied anyby(c) evidence which may be or which isprescribed considered by the village council to be satisfactory that all persons (i) dependent on a person who is surrendering that customary right of occupancy are aware 180 of the surrender and have a reed to it; (ii) having derivative customary right of occupancy are aware of the surrender; information(d) otherany which may be prescribed; send or delivered to the(e) thevillage council of village where the land is situate. The Village Council shall(8) make entries prescribed in the register of village land recording tile surrender I of customary right of occupancy. (9) A derivative right granted out of a customary right of occupancy Which, is surrendered under this section, 181 rights in that Village Land 1999 1999NO. 5 shall, as from the date of the surrender, be held on the village council on the same terms and conditions which it was held on the person who has surrendered the customary right of occupancy. The regrant of aRegrant of 36.-(I) surrenderedsurrendered I rightcustomary of occupancy by a village council shall be 'in accordance with -the provisions of this Part applicable to the grant of a customary right of occupancy. customary right of occupancy (2) ...Where the person who has right of. surrendered a customary occupancy has dependents or if a... woman, a spouse and if a man one or More spouses, the village council shall, before publicising the fact that the land available to be granted to any villager or other person to whom section 22 182 Village Land Village land -1999 landfirst offer the to the ... following persons in the following order, that is to say (a) Where the, person who has surrendered the customary right of occupancy is a man; his wife-(i) 9 (ii) where he has more than one wife, his wives in order, of seniority; (iii)' where he, has no wife or all wives tohave declined accept the offer his dependants; where the person who has(b) surrendered the customary right of occupancy is a refers 183 No. 5 1999Village Land woman; her husband-(i) 9 (ii) where she has no husband or is divorced from her husband or her husband has declined acceptto the heroffer, dependants. (3) A customary ofright occupancy to which this section applies I shall be granted to a person other than a I person referred to in subsection (2), free of -any outstanding debts which may ,have burdened the surrendered customary right of occupancy. 1999Village Land 37 (.1) A breach of a condition requiring continuous performance shall arise as soon and continue as long as When breach of condition of customary' the condition is not complied with.right of A breach of a condition(2)occupancy subject to a fixed term shall arise-arises in the case of a condition(a) requiring the doing of any timeanywithinact specified and upon that time thebyextendedbeing village council, within that theupontime,extended expiry of that time without that act having been done; (b) in the case of a condition... any act torequiring be refrained from until any theinspecifiedtime 185 I999.No. 5 Village Land wherecondition or that time has been extended by the village council, within that extended time, upon the doing of that act before that . time. (3) Where any condition consists of two or more separate obligations or liabilities, a failure to fulfill any of those . obligations or liabilities shall constitute a breach of the condition. (4) Where any condition consists comply withof an obligation to... regulations made by any local or other authority or the lawful orders of a II village council having jurisdiction in. ... the area where the land held for a isoccupancyofrightcustomary situated, a failure to comply -with any -of those regulations or any lawful order 186 1999 shall constitute a breach of a condition, ... whether that failure is made the subject of criminal proceedings or not. ... (5) Where any condition consists of an obligation to comply with any rule of customary law applicable to the land held for a customary right of occupancy, or to the person occupying that land,, a failure to comply with that ofa breachconstituterule shall condition. Remedies for 38.-(I) Upon any breach of any subject which anytoconditionbreach of customary right of occupancy has beencondition granted, or upon any failure to pay any , rent taxes or other dues, the village council may 187 Village land 1999Village LandNo. 5 remedyanyexercise(a) available under customary law anonfineaimpose(b) accordanceinoccupier with section 40; theonnoticeaserve(c) accordanceinoccupier with section 41 requiring the breach to be remedied 9 serve a supervision order(d) inoccupiertheon sectionwithaccordance 42; theassigntemporarily(e) customary ofright anothertooccupancy person in accordance with section 43; 188 1999Village Land (2) The village council may take action under sections 39 to 43 in respect of the same breach. The village council may, at any(3) takingfromwithdrawtime, action under sections 39 to 43. (4) For purposes of this section and sections 39 to 43, every breach of condition shall be taken as capable of being remedied, and the action required for remedying any breach shall be taken to consist in the case of a positive condition or a requirement in a regulation or order, to do some act or thing, or (a) the doing of any act or ofomissionthing- the constituted orwhich ... formed part of the breach; . 189 NO. 5 Village Land 1999 in the,, case of a negative in a regulation or order, of the doing of those acts and things which are necessary or villagewhich the council may direct to be done to put the land into the state in which it would be if the breach had not occurred. The Commissioner may(5) eitherprovide advice, in writing, generally or to a specific village on any remedies referred to in this section and sections 39 to 43 all village councils shall have regard to that advice in so far as it applies to their exercise of power under this section or condition or, a prohibition 190 (b) the nature and gravity of the breach and whether it could be waived (a) the circumstances of the(b) occupier; whether the condition that(c) has been breached could remedied toasbe so obviate the breach, and shall in all cases where the village council is minded to proceed to take Action on a breach, first issue a warning to the occupier advising him that he is in breach of the' conditions of the customary right of occupancy and how he may rectify that breach. I 191 (6) Before proceeding to take any action in respect of a breach of a condition of the customary right of occupancy, the village council shall consider Village land 1999 No. 5 Village Laid 1999 Remedies in Where a village council39.-(I) proposes to exercise any custornary law remedy or a breach of a condition imposed under and in accordance with accordance with customary law customary law, it shall (a) inform the person alleged to have committed the breach of (i) the alleged breach;I (ii) the proposed remedy; (iii) where some act or thing is required to be done, the time, being not less than twenty-one days, within which it must be done; 192 Village Land 1999 the consequences -of(iv) a failure to remedy the alleged breach; (b) give the person alleged to have committed the breach an opportunity, of not less than fourteen days notice, to make representations on the matter; (c) take all such representations into account before determining whether to proceed to exercise a customary law remedy. (2) A customary law remedyI which permits or requires that a person be deprived of his land, either for a stated period or permanently, shall not take effect unless and until the 193 No. 5 1999 Commissioner has assented to that remedy (3) 'Where the village councilI :, propose to exercise the remedy referred to in subsection (2), it shall (a) inform the Commissioner in writing of the proposal and the reasons for it; provide the Commissioner(13) I with any material which was before it, including a summary of any representations made under paragraph (b) of whensubsection it(1), determined to exercise that remedy; (c) provide the Cornmissioner with any additional information which the 194 Village Land 1999 writing within twenty-one days of the receipt of the , information and material referred-to in paragraphs (a) and (b), require; (d) not exercise the remedy unless and until the Commissioner has signified, in writing, his assent to that remedy. (4) Where a village council is Commissionerrequired by the to provide additional information under paragraph (c) of subsection (3), it shall provide that additional information within forty days of the receipt of the The Commissioner shall(5) 195 Village Land Commissioner may, in signify, in witting, that he assents or 1999No. 5 Village Land that he does not assent to the remedy referred to in subsection (2) within thirty days after he has received all that information which is referred to in subsection (3). Fine for breach 40.-(I) Where any breach of a condition has arisen, the village councilof condition may serve a notice in the prescribed tile who hasoccupieronform committed the breach requiring him to show cause as to why a fine should not be imposed upon him in respect of that breach. The occupier shall, within(2) the time specified in the notice, respond to the notice. (3) Where the occupier has not responded to the notice or where he has to the satisfactionfailed to show cause, 196 Village Land 1999 of the village council, as to why a fine should not be imposed, the village council may serve a notice on the occupier requiring him to pay a fine within any time which may be specified in the notice and in the case of a continuing breach, the occupier shall be liable without further notice to pay a further fine during which the breach con tinues. (4) The Minister may make prescribing finesregulations which may be imposed by a village council in respect of breach of conditions. (5) The village council may, where the occupier has not committed any other breach of a condition of the customary right of occupancy, suspend the payment of any fine of up to two years if the occupier does not commit 197 1999No. 5 Village land that breach again within the period during which the fine is suspended, the fine shall lapse and shall no longer be payable. (6) Where the fine is paid in full, no further action shall be taken by the village council in respect of that breach. If the village council is(7) satisfied, after due inquiry, which shall include an opportunity for the occupier to make representations oil the matter, that the breach in respect of which a fine has been paid is continuing or has recommenced, it may take action in thatrespect of continuing or recommenced breach under sections 39 or 41 to 43 198 1999Village Land ... Summary, Where any: breach of41.-(I) condition has arisen, and: it appears toaction to the village council that, the breach isremedy breach of condition capable of being remedied by the .1 occupier who has committed the breach within a reasonable time, it may serve a notice in the prescribed form on the occupier specifying the action required for remedying the breach and requiring the occupier to take that action within the time specified in the notice. (2) The occupier on whom a notice under this section is served shall comply strictly with the notice. (3) Where a notice served, under this section is strictly complied with, no I further action shall be taken by the village council in respect of that breach. (4) Where it appears to the 199 Village Land 1999NO. 5 village council that the notice has not been strictly complied with or that the breach in respect of which the notice hasorcontinuingserved iswas recommenced it shall take action in continuingthatofrespect 01' accordancerecommenced breach in with sections 42 or 43 I Supervision Where any breach of42.-(I) condition has arisen and it appears to the village council that the occupier Who order to remedy breach isbreachcommitted thehas unlikely or is not capable of remedying the breach unless his use of the land is supervised, it may serve an order, to be known as a supervision order in the prescribed form on that occupier. 200 Village Land 1999 assignment absolute that court shall consider the matter de novo and hear the occupier and the village council and may make absolute the order(a) specified by the village council; specified(b) amend the order by the village council and make that amended order absolute I suspend the operation of(C) the order for a specified period; an alternativesubstitute(d) remedy for the order 9 dismiss the application and(e) that the order berule discharged; 219 1999Village Land (b) have no power to assign ofrightcustomarythat occupancy; where the former occupier(c) continue totowishes reside on the land formerthatgrant(i) occupier a residential licence to reside on the land subject to any terms conditionsand villagethewhich shallcouncil. whichorapprove may be prescribed; provide that former(ii) withoccupier sufficient income for him to be able to 221 Village Land .1999NO. 5 meet basichis needs, (d) apply any surplus income derived from the land in the following order to paying any taxes or(i) other public imposts owned by the former of theholder customary right of occupancy; G i) anyrepairing damage done to the land by the former theofholder customary right of. occupancy, ... anymeeting(iii) whichobligations the former holder of 222 1999Village Land the customary right of occupancy has to his family which he has not met or is not meeting; paying the residue to(iv) the former holder of ofrightthe occupancy. 44.-(I) The President may revoke a right of occupancy granted to a non village organization or a group of.per sons not being villagers.; Revocation of customary right of occupancy (2) The provisions of sections 46 and 47 of the Land Act, 1999 which relates to fines for breach of condition and to summary action to remedy . 223 No. 5 Village Land 1999 breach of condition of customary right of occupancy respectively shall, as near as may be, apply to the revocation of a customary right of occupancy as they apply to the revocation of a granted right of occupancy provided for in those sec tions. (3) The Commissioner may I direct the village council of the village where the land held of a customary right of occupancy which may be revoked is situate to give him any, information and documents and take any action in any time which may be specified in the direction, being not less than forty days, to enable him to . exercise his functions under sections 46 a 1999 inand 47 of the Land Act, relation to that customary right of occupancy. (4) A village council in receipt of which the directive is referred to in 224 1999Village Land, subsection (3) shall comply with that directive in every particular. 45.. M Land held for a customary right of occupancy shall be taken to be abounded where one or more of the Abandonment of land held for a customary following factors are present: hasoccupier not(a) the occupied or used the land for any purpose for which land may lawfully be occupied and used, including allowing land to lie fallow, in the village for not less than five right of occupancy years; the occupier, other than a(b) villager whose principal livelihood isofmeans agricultural or pastoral, owes any rent, taxes or dues on or . 225 Village Land 1999 Where councilvillage(4) a considers that any village land held for a customary right of occupancy has been abandoned, it shall publish a notice in the prescribed form at the offices of the village council and affix a copy of the notice in a prominent place on that land: (a) stating that the question of whether that land has been abandoned beWill considered villageby the council at a time which shall be not less than thirty days of thedatethefrom publication of the notice; (b) inviting any person in the village with an interest in that land to show cause as to 229 No. 5 Village Land 1999 why that land should not be declared to be abandoned. (5) A copy 'of a notice referred to in subsection (4) shall be sent to the Commissioner who shall be entitled to representations the villagetomake council on the matter. either noWhere(6) person interested in the land has shown cause or a person interested in the land has shown cause to the satisfaction of the village council as to why the land should not be declared to be abandoned, the village council may make an order, to be known as a provisional order of abandonment' in the prescribed form 230 1999Village Land A copy of a provisional(7) order of abandonment shall be posted up in the offices of(a) the village council; affixed in a prominent place(b) land to whichon the it refers; sent to the Commissioner.(C) provisional oforder(8) A without more,shall,abandonment unless a person claiming an interest in the land applies to the court for relief against that order, become a final order of abadonment ninety days from the date of the declaration of the provisional order. 231 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (9) On the coming into effect of a final order of abandonment ofrightthe customary(a) occupancy in the land which has thereby been declared to shallabandoned,be and withoutimmediately further action being required stand revoked; and the land which has been(b) declared to be abandoned andimmediatelyshall,. without any further action being required, revert back to land held by the village council foravailableas allocation to persons resident theinordinarily village. 232 1999Village Land (10) The village council shall, on a claim being made within sixty days of the coming into effect of a final order of abandonment by an occupier of land declared by that final order to be abandoned, on being satisfied. by that claim, pay forcompensation. any unexhausted improvements on that land at the time of the coming into effect of the final order, but shall, where the occupier is an individual after taking account of the means, age and physical condition of that occupier, deduct from any payment or compensation (a) all the costs incurred by the village council in the process of declaring the land to be abandoned, anyincluding costs incurred in any action 233 No. 5 Village Land '1999 in court where a person claiming an interest in the land is. applying for relief from a provisional. order; incurred(b) all the costs in restoring the land or any buildings on the land to the condition that it would be reasonable to expect they should have been in if they had not been abandoned; any rent, taxes, fees or other dues owing and not paid by the occupier. (I 1) A village council shall record a I orderfinalaand ofprovisional abandonment in the register of village land. 234 Village Land 1999 Application for 46.-(I) An occupier referred to in sections 39 to 45 may apply to a Court having jurisdiction for relief against any of the relief actions, notices, orders, or declarations which may be made against him by the village council or the ofunder thoseanyCommissioner sections. (2) Where the effect of an action, notice, order or declaration made under any of the referred sections adversely affects any other person with an interest in land of the occupier against whom the action, notice, order or declaration has been made, that other person may, with leave of the court, apply for relief against so much of the action, notice, order or declaration that affects him. 235 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (3) where an application is made by one or more but not all co-occupiers, then unless the court orders otherwise, that application must be served on every co occupier who is not already a party. (4) An application for relief is not to be taken as an admission by the occupier or any other person applying for relief that (a) there has been a breach of condition or an abadonment of land in respect of which the action, notice order or declaration has been served by reason of that breach or abadonment,, (b) the village council or Commissioner has revokethe right to the customary right of occupancy or make a 236 Village LandNo. 5 1999 postpone the operation of(c) orderthat notice, or declaration; (d) substitute a different remedy for the one determined upon by the village council or Commissioner 9 (c) confirm the action, notice, order, or declaration made, notwithstanding that some procedural errors took place during the making of that action, notice, order or declaration if the court is satisfied that (i) the occupier or other forperson applying relief was made fully aware of the substance of the action, notice, 238 1999Village Land order or declaration; and (ii) no injustice will be done confirmingby notice,action,that order or declaration, anygrant that relief onand may condition as to expenses, damages,, I .compensation or any other relevant matter which the court thinks fit. 47.-(I) An applicant for-Appeals the grant of a customary(a) right of occupancy; or approval to the assignment of(b) ofrightcustomarya occupancy; approval to any disposition(c) of a derivative right which requires consent; 239 1999Village LandNo. 5 (d) the grant of a derivative right by a village council, who is refused that grant or approval by a village council or where that grant or approval requires the confirmation or approval of the village assembly, is refused that confirmation or approval may appeal against that refusal to the District Council having jursdiction over where the land the subject of appeal is situate and may further appeal to the Commissioner and further to the Court. C: Adjudication of interest in land Application of 48. Except where the boundaries of this Sub-Part 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 240 Village Land 1999 by all persons with an interest in that. land and in respect of the boundaries of that land and land bordering that land, customarygrant ofrightno of a occupancy shall be made to any person, non-villagepersonsof orgroup unless and theuntilorganisation boundaries of and interest in that land have been adjudicated in. accordance with the provisions of this Sub-Part. 49.-(I) A person or, group of persons may, on making an application to a village council for a customary right of occupancy, apply, on a prescribed form to that village council for adjudi cation, to be known as 'spot adjudica tion' to be applied to that land in respect of which they have applied for a custo mary right of occupancy. Spot adjudication 241. , No. 5 Village land 1999 council(2) The village shall determine whether spot adjudication may be applied to the land in respect of which it has been requested or whether it is necessary, in order for adjudication to be applied to land in a proper and just manner, to apply adjudication to land contigous to or in the vicinity of the land for which adjudication has been requested. (3) Where the village council determines that spot adjudication may be applied theto land, it shall commence the process of adjudication in respect of that land. (4) Where the village council determines that it is necessary to apply adjudication to land contigous to and in the vicinity of the land for which 242 Village Land 1999 adjudication has been requested, it shall (a) submit the determination in form of athe commendation, to the village assembly for its approval; inform the District Council having jurisdiction over that village of the determination (b) and the reasons for it; inform the applicants of the(c) thedetermination and reasons for it. (5) Where, either a village assembly rejects the(a) recommendation theof village council submitted to it under paragraph (a) of subsection (4); or an applicant for adjudication(b) 243 No. 5 Village land 1999 submits an objection, in writing, to the determination to the village council, that village council shall report that rejection or as the case may be send a copy of that objection to the District Council having jurisdiction over that village. (6) The District Council may, if it considers that spot adjudication ought to be applied to land for which it has been requested, notwithstanding the determination by the village council made under subsection (2), after taking account of the rejection by the village assembly of, or the objection by an applicant for spot adjudication to that determination by the village council, direct that village council to apply spot adjudication to the land of the applicant 244 Village Land 1999 (7) A village council shall comply with a directive issued to it by the .District Council under this section. Village or Adjudication50.,-(I) shall be District either of adjudication (a) village adjudication; or (b) district adjudication. (2) The responsibility for village adjudication is hereby vested in the village council and shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Section or Section 54. (3) The responsibility for district adjuration is hereby vested in the District Council and shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of section 56. (4) Where a complaint is made to the District Council by not less than twenty 245 Village LandNo. 5 1999 persons with interests in land to which village adjudication is being applied that the village adjudication is being applied improperly Districttheor unfairly, Council shall investigate the complaint and on being satisfied of the accuracy of District Councilthethe complaint, shall I issue any directive which it(a) considers necessary to the village council to correct and ofprocessimprove the village adjudication; or thetodirectivea(b) issue village council to cease exercising any(i) theunderpowers of villageprocess adjudication; (ii) send all records and. 246 Village Land 1999 informationother theinspecified directive theto District Council; (iii) cooperate fully with any officers whom the District Council shall applytoauthorize central adjudication to whichtolandthe adjudicationvillage was being applied. (5) The issuing of a directive under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) shall operate to terminate forthwith village(a) adjudication; apply central adjudication,(b) to the land to which village adjudication was being applied. 247 Village Land 1999No. 5 (6) Where central adjudication has been applied to land under subsection (5) the Distinct Council shall thereupon be empowerd to re-examine;(a) cancel;(b) revise;(c) add to;(d) make any other decisions(e)I which seem, just on., any determination made by any person or body in the village in connection with village adjudication of that land. Determination 51.-(I) A village council may, either of its own motion and shall, on the application of not less than fifty to apply village adjudication villagers,, recommend to the village adjudication be applied to the whole or a defined ,portion of village land available assembly that a process of village 248 Village Land 1999 ofrightsfor grants of customary occupancy. recommendation made(2) A under this section shall contain a brief statement of(a) forreasons the recommendation I (b) specify the approximate area it isto Whichof land proposed to apply village adjudication; (c) summarise the procedures to be followed in the process of village adjudication; be posted in a public place(d) the,within village and ... ... explained to villagers so that the members of the village. assembly may have notice of the recommendation not less 249 1999No.5 than fourteen days before the of the villagemeeting Assembly which is to vote on, the recommendation; be theto(e) copied Commissioner. (3) Where the village assembly approves a recommendation made under this section, the village council shall, as soon as may be after that, begin the process of village adjudication. (4) A refusal by the village assembly to approve a recommendation of the village council shall not operate to bar any villager or group of villagers from applying for spot adjudication to be applied, to land in respect of which any of those, persons have applied for a right of occupancy.customary 250 Village Land 1999Village Land Appointment 52.-(1) Where a village assembly has approved a recommendation that aid functions of village village adjudication process shall take adjudication place, the village council of that village shall appoint a villager-adviser known and respected for his(a) knowledge of and impartial landjudgment about matters in that village; in a(b) prescribedqualified discipline or profession or (c) any public servant appointed by the Commissioner at the the villageofrequest council, to act as a village adjudication adviser (d) an official with forresponsibilities land matters of, a local authority having jurisdiction in the 251 1999Village Land adjudication process which appear to the committee to be necessary; (b) draw to the attention of the oranycommittee error omission in any adjudication register at any time before it is completed; make a claim or otherwise act on behalf of any person who is absent or under a disability if he considers it (c) necessary to avoid injustice; (d) attempt anyto resolve theconcerningdispute boundaries of or interests in out of thearisingland village adjudication process through conciliation before it a villageis referred to 253 1999No. 5 Village Land adjudication committee; (e) conduct any inquiries which tohe may be directed conduct by the committee to implement villagea adjudication process. Village 53.-(1) Where a village assembly adjudication which has approved a recommendation committee that a village adjudication process shall village council shalltake place, the villagea adjudicationestablish committee, the members of which shall be elected by the village assembly. .(2) A village adjudication com mittee shall consist of not more than nine persons of whom not less than four persons shall be women, who shall serve for a term of three years and shall be eli gible to be re-elected for one further term of three years. 254 1999 (3) The functions of a village adjudication committee shall be to determine the boundaries of(a) and interest in land which is subject of athe village adjudication; (b) set aside or make reservations of land or demarcate rights of way and other easements whi ch it considers necessary for the more beneficial occupati on of land (c) adjudicate upon and decide accordance within customary law any question referred to it by any person with an interest landin which is the subject of a 255 Village Land No. 5 Village Land 1999 village adjudication; (d) advise the village adjudication adviser or any person subordinate to him who is assisting in the village adjudication process ofupon any question customary law as to which its guidance has been sought; interests(e) safeguard the of women, absent persons, minors and persons under a disability; take account of any interest in land in respect of which for any reason, no claim has (f) been made, (4) Each village adjudication itsshallcommittee ofelect one members to be chairman who shall 256 1999Village Land preside at all meetings at which he is present; and if at any meeting the chairman is absent, the members present shall elect one of themselves to preside over that meeting. (5) The quorum of a village adju dication committee shall, be five, of which at least two members shall be women. (6) In the event of an equality of votes, the chairman or other member presiding shall have a casting vote as well as an original vote. (7) Any decision of a village adjudication committee shall be signed by the chairman or other member presiding and the village adjudication adviser. (8) The village adjudication adviser shall be the executive officer for the village adjudication committee and shall keep the records of the committee. 257 1999No. 5 Village Land (9) The village adjudication committee shall in the exercise of any of its powers under this section which involve a hearing comply with the rules of natural justice and, subject to that duty, may (a) hear evidence which would not be admissible in a court of law; call evidence of its own(b) motion; use evidence contained in(c) official record orany adduced in any other claim' and (d) generally, determine its own procedures. (10) A village adjudication committee shall have jurisdiction over all claims made during the course of a village adjudication process and for this 258 purpose and in order to discharge the the chairman of that committee shall be legally competent to administer oaths and to issue summonses, notices and orders requiring the attendance of any persons and the production of any which he considermaydocuments necessary for the carrying out of the village adjudication. 54.-(1) The chairman of a villageProcedures for adjudicationvillage committee shall be that thefor ensuringadjudication responsible procedures set out in this section and that bemayany other procedures prescribed are complied with. (2) Where village adjudication is to ofbe applied to village land or a portion that land, a notice shall be published and posted in a prominent place in the vil to be adju-lage and on the land which is dicated 259 Village Land 1999 functions referred to in subsection (3), No.5 Village Land 1999 (a) specifying the approximate area of land to be adjudication (the adjudication area); (b) requiring all persons who claim any interest in the land to attend a meeting of the village adjudication committee at a Ispecified time and put forward their claims requiring any person who claims to occupy land within (c) the adjudication area to mark or indicate the boundaries of the land in the manner and before the date which may .be specified by the notice. (3) On the specified date, the village adjudication committee shall hear and determine all paragraphs claims made under (b) and (c) of subsection (2). 260 1999Village Land (4) The village adjudication adjourn any hearing intocommittee may villageany claim and direct the adjudication adviser to conduct further investigations into that claim. (5) In hearing and determining any claim, village adjudicationthe committee shall use its best endeavours to mediate between and reconcile parties .having conflicting claims to the land. (6) The village adjudication committee shall cause to be prepared a provisional adjudication record in the prescribe manner of the claims to the adjudicated land which it has determined under subsection (3) and shall post that record in a prominent place within the village. (7) A provisional adjudication. record shall, unless an appeal is made under the provisions of section 55, become a final 261 Village LandNo.5 1999 adjudication record thirty days after it has been published and shall thereupon become a part of the register of village land. (8) A provisional adjudication record shall, where any appeal has been made under section 55, become a final adjudication record thirty days after the final disposition of that appeal. 55.- (1) Any person who is aggrieved a determination villageof aby committeeadjudication may, within thirty days of the publication of the adjudication record, appeal to the village land council against that determination. (2) The Village Land Council shall, in hearing any appeal andhave all the powersa) all theWithcomply cable to aprocedures appli adjudicationvillage committee; and (b) reach any decision which 262 1999Village Land the and,circumstances, without limiting the of that power,generality may (i) amend the adjudication record (ii) correct any error in the adjudication record (iii) direct that the village adjudication adiviser conduct further investigations. into the subject, matter of the appeal. (4) Where the village land cou ncil propose to make a decision which may adversely affect the interests of any person in the adjudication area who has not appealed, the Council shall give that person an opportunity to be heard before its shall make that decision. 263 appears to it be just in all No. 5 Village Land 1999 (5) Any applicant or person re ferred to in subsection (4) aggrieved by a decision of the village land council given under this section may, with the leave of the court, appeal to that court against that decision and the court may make any decision or order which it con siders just in all the circumstances and to that end may make any rectification of the provisional adjudication record which it considers will achieve a just re suit. District 56.-(1) Where the District Council adjudication has issued a directive under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 50 or where a village asse mbly has determined that di strict adjudication shall be applied to land within the vi liage, the Provisions of this section shall apply to the Process of district adjudi cation. 264 1999Village land (2) The District Council shall appoint a public officer to be an adjudication officer for that village land, and that officer shall be in charge of and shall exercise general supervision and control over the processadjudication and without limiting the generality of that power, that officer may (a) where a village adjudication adviser has been appointed (i) give that adviser orders and directives which that adviser shall comply with; with(ii) dispense the services of that adviser; 265 1999Village LandNO .5 (b) where a village adjudication committee has been elected furtherappoint(i) thattomembers committee; anyorall(ii) remove elected members from that committee; thefor(iii) arrange newelection of thattomembers thebycommittee village assembly; (iv) nominate a chairman of the committee who thereplaceWill chairman elected by that committee; appoint an executive(v) theforofficer 266 Village Land 1999 committee who will replace villagea adjudication adviser; (c) where a village adjudication committee not beenhas elected, appoint a village adjudication committee, the composition, powers and procedures of which shall, with the Ofexception paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of section 53 comply with the provisions of that section; (d) exercise those powers of the village adjudication committee to the exclusion of that0) committee, set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) 267 No. 5 Village Land 1999 of subsection (3) of section 53; and (ii) in conjunction with the committee set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of section 53; (e) refer any matter to a village adjudication committee for its opinion; exercise, to the exclusion of the chairman of a village adjudication committee, the responsibility (f) for ensuring compliance with subsection (2) of section 57. exercise, to the exclusion of(g) a village adjudication committee, the powers set out in subsections (3), (4) 268 Village Land 1999 and (5) of section 54, and accordingly substitute a reference to himself for a reference to a village adjudication committee in a notice published under subsection (2) of section 54. prepare, to the exclusion of a(h) adjudicationvillage committee, the provisional record underadjudication subsection (6) of section 54; ordersissue(i) toany any officer subordinate to him and to a village adjudication committee which he thinks necessary for the carrying ofout of the process adjudication; 0) time aat beforeany 269 1999No. 5 Village Land provisional adjudication re cord becomes final, correct any error or supply any omi ssion occurring in that provi sional record. (3) An adjudication officer shall have jurisdiction in all claims made under a process of central adjudication relating to interests in land in an topowerwitharea,adjudication determine any question that needs to be anydetermined in connection with claims and for that purpose he shall be legally competent to administer oaths and to issue summonses, notices or orders requiring the attendance of any of anyproductiontheorpersons considermaydocuments which he necessary for the carrying out of that adjudication. 270 Village Land 1999No. 5 (4) Any person who has made a claim under a process of District adjudication who is aggrieved by any act or decision of an adjudication officer done or taken under the process of District adjudication may, within thirty days of the publication of a provisional record, toappealadjudication the Commissioner and may further appeal to the High Court. (5) On any appeal which is made under subsection (4), the court may make any decision or order which it theconsidermay in alljust circumstances and to that end it may make any rectification of the provisional adjudication record which it considers necessary to achieve a just result. (6) The provisions of subsections (7) and (8) of section 54 shall apply to a 271 Village LandNo. 5 1999 provisional adjudication record prepared by an adjudication officer under this section. 57.-(1) In preparing the provisional adjudication record, a village adjudication committee, or as the case may be, an adjudication officer, Principles of adjudication if it or he is satisfied that a person is and has been or(a) his predecessor in title was in peaceable, open and uninterrupted occupation of village land under customary law for not less than twelve years, shall determine that person to be entitled to a rightcustomary of occupancy; a person is in occupation of(b) 272 1999Village LandNo. 5 village land allocated to him or his predecessor in title during Operation Vijiji, shall determine that person to be customarytoentitled a right of occupancy; (c) a group of persons are and have been in peaceable, open and uninterrupted occupation of or have similarly used the land forvillage pastoral purposes for not less that twelve years, shall determine that group of persons to be entitled to a customary right of occupancy over that land; a group of persons are in occupation of or have been (d) using for pastoral purposes, allocatedlandvillage to 273 . 1999Village LandNo. 5 them during Operation Vijiji, shall determine that group of persons to be entitled to a customary right of occupancy over that land; a person or group of persons are in peaceable, o en and uninterrupted occupation of land or are similarly using the (e) land under ail arrangement or as a result of a transaction whether under customary law or any written law relating to land, and whether that occupation can be evidenced by a document in writing or not which does not fall within any of the above of landcategories occupancy, shall determine 274 Village Land 1999 the nature, incidents and extent of that occupancy and declare that person or group of persons to occupy that land ofunder the type so determined,occupancy whether it be a customary or aright of occupancy derivative right; a person or group of persons or a non-village organisation are in occupation of or are using village land without any right or interest so to be, determine (f) shall those non-villagepersons or organisation to be unauthorised occupiers, permitted to remain on the land temporarily as 275 1999No. 5 Village Land licencees; a person or group of persons are entitled to an interest in village land, whether under customary law or otherwise, (g) not amounting to occupation orlaw,customaryunder under a derivative right, shall the nature,determine incidents and extent of those interest to enable it to be recorded in the name of the person or group or persons entitled to benefit from it; the village land is entirely free of any occupation or use (h) or any right of occupation or use by any person or group of persons, shall determine that land to be communal 276 1999Village Land village land; the village land is entirely, free of any occupation or use by any person or group of persons shall determine that land to be communal land; the land alleged to be village (i) 0) land is not village land, shall thatdeclare land to be general land. (3) In making any determinations under subsection villagea(2), adjudication committee or as the case may be an adjudication officer shall have regard and treat the rights of women and the rights of pastoralists to occupy or use or have interest in land not less... favourably than the rights of men or agri culturalists to occupy or use or have in terests in land. 277 1999No. 5 Village Land (4) In determining whether occupations of land has been peaceable, open and uninterrupted (a) no account shall be taken of ordeclarationorder,any or madescheme issued under the Town and Country Planning Ordinance, which purports to alter, amend or add to the incidents of any deemed right of occupancy or other right to occupy land of any person so as to render any aspect of that occupation unlawful (b) a person, occupying land in an urban or peri-urban area at the will or sufferance of or as a trespasser (relative to a 278 Village Land 1999 organisationorperson having a title to that land) isoccupationwhosebut recognised and accepted as being in accordance with the customs of the community of which he is a part, shall be deemed to be in peaceable uninterruptedandopen occupation of that land; (c) it shall not be necessary that continuousisoccupation provided that when land is not occupied by a person or group of persons claiming andopenpeaceable, uninterrupted occupation of that land, it is not occupied by any other person or group claimingpersonsof 279 No. 5 1999Village Land peaceable open and uninterrupted occupation. (5) A village adjudication com mittee or an adjudication officer may record that two or more persons or groups of persons are co-occupiers and users of land, whether those persons or groups of persons have claimed to be co-occupiers or are disputing occupation or use of that land and where that determination is made, the committee or adjudication officer as the case may be, I shall determine and record the nature, co-incidents and extent of that occupation and whether those persons and group of persons are joint occupiers or occupiers in common as provided for 1999in Part XII of the Land Act, relating to co-occupancy whose right 280 Village Land 1999No. 5 between themselves are governed by customary law. (6) References to 'land' in this section are reference to land the boundaries of which have been agreed to by the parties claiming an interest in that land and contiguous land or have, in the absence of that agreement, been determined by a village adjudication committee or an adjudication officer. provisional(7) aWhere adjudication record has been completed, it shall be signed by the Chairman and villagetheofofficerexecutive adjudication committee and by each person or an authorised representative of each person or group of persons or non village organisation whose interests in land have been adjudicated. 281 No. 5 Village Land 1999 Land sharing 58.-(1) Where, in respect of any land the subject of adjudication, the village adjudication committee or, as the case may be, the adjudication officer is satisfied that there is a dual use of the land between groups of persons using the land for pastoral purposes and arrangements between pastoralists and agriculturalists groups of persons using the land for andagricultural purposes that both groups claim to be using that land in with lawcustomaryaccordance applicable to their respective uses, the committee or, as the case may be the adjudication officer shall determine(a) and record the nature, extent and incidents of each use and so far as it is possible to do so, the length of time that each group has 282 Village land 1999 used or claimed the use of that land for their respective uses; adjudi-(b) where the village cation committee or the adju dication officer is satisfied that the groups of persons so using the land have in the past and are likely to continue in the future to carry out their re spective uses of the land in co-operation with each other, he or as the case may be pre pare an arrangement for that continued dual use which records (i) the rights to the use and occupation of the land by each group as recognised by each group; and 283 1999Village LandNo. 5 (ii) the arrangements resolvingfor disputesany between the usesdual andadopted thosebyused groups; villagethewhere(c) adjudication Committee or an adjudication officer is satisfied -that the groups of persons using the land are in continuous dispute about the uses of the land, it or he as the case may be, shall record the(i) torights the use and occupation 284 of the land claimed eachby group; and (ii) prepare a draft sharing arrange forment the continued usedual theof la n d either for a limited period or indefinite basedly 285 1999Village LandNo. 5 No. 5 Village Land 1999 on the claimed uses of the land modified so as to reduce the likelihood of disputes; and (iii) discuss the arrangem ent with each group of persons or their represent 286 1999Village Land atives awith toview obtaining their agreemen thetot said arrangem ent or the said arrangem ent modified to take account theof ofviews those groups their 287 No. 5 Village Land 1999 represent atives; and (iv) adopt the draft arrangem ent as a Scheme. (2) An arrangement prepared or adopted under subsection (1) shall be known as a ''land sharing arrangement'' and shall provide (a) for each group using the land to which it relates, rights to the occupation and use of that land based on the provisions on easements and analogous rights and on co-occupancy contained in Parts XI and XII of the Land Act, 1999, respectively; 288 Village Land 1999 (b) arrangements for the resolution by a joint mediation panel composed of equal members of each group, of disputes about the rights so provided for by the scheme. (3) A land sharing arrangement may, notwithstanding the provisions of Part XI of the Land Act, 1999, provide that different groups of persons may oc cupy or use different parts of the land the subject of the scheme exclusively for specified purposes or for a specified pe riod. (4) A land sharing arrangement shall be registered in the Village Land Registry and in the District Land Regis try. Staying of 59.-(1) Except with the consent of suits the chairman of the village adjudication committee or where district adjudication is taking place, of the adjudication officer, no person shall institute any civil action or proceedings of any kind concerning land or any interest in land 289 No. 5 1999Village Land which is the subject of an adjudication process until the adjudication record is final. (2) Where any action or proceedings has begun before the publication of a notice under section 51 or section 54, they shall be discontinued unless the chairman of the village adjudication committee or, as the case may be, the adjudication officer, having regard to whichthe stage the action of otherwiseproceedings have reached, directs. (3) Any person who is aggrieved by a refusal of the chairman of the vil lage adjudication committee or, as the case may be, the adjudication officer to give his consent under subsection (1) or make a direction under subsection (2), within fourteen days of the refusal, may appeal to the village land council against that refusal and may further appeal to the Court having jurisdiction over Land matters. 290 1999Village LandNo. 5 PART V DISPUTE SETTLEMENTS Elders60.-(1) For the purposes of this Part, every village shall establish a Vi llage Land Council to mediate between and assist parties to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution on any matter conce Council Panels rning village land. (2) Where a village council es tablishes a village land council, that council shall consist of seven persons of whom three shall be women who shall be nominated by(a) the village council; and (b) approved by the village assembly. (3) Where a person is not ap proved as a member of village and coun cil or, a member of a council resigns dies or falls within one of the categories set out in subsection (4), the village coun cil shall nominate another person to be a member of the village land council and that person shall be required to be ap proved in accordance with subsection (2). 291 1999Village LandNo. 5 (4) In determining persons to be nominated as members of the village land council, a village council shall have regard to the standing and reputation of a nominee in the village as a person of integrity and with knowledge of custom ary land law. (5) No person shall be eligible to be nominated as a member of the vil lage land Council or continue as a mem ber of a traditional village land council if he is (a) not ordinarily resident in the village in which the village land council is to function; a member of the National(b) Assembly; (c) a magistrate having jurisdi ction in the district in which the village land council is to function is situate; (d) a person under the apparent age of eighteen years; a mentally unfit person;(e) beenhaswhopersona(f) of criminalaconvicted offence involving dishonesty or moral turpitude; 292 Village Land 1999 a person who is not a citizen.(g) (6) A person who falls within one of the categories set out in subsection (5) while serving as a member of a the village land council shall automatically cease to be a member of that council but where that person was acting as a me diator in any case, then, except where the provisions of paragraph (e) or (f) of subsection (5) apply that person may continue to act as a mediator in that case until the process of mediation has been concluded. (7) A member of an appointed village land council shall, unless he sooner resigns, dies or falls within a cat egory set out in subsection (5) serve for three years and shall be eligible for re appointment which shall comply with the provisions of subsection (2) and (3). (8) An appointed village land council shall elect one of its. members to be convenor of the Council who shall keep the records of the council and pre side at all meetings at which he is present; and if at any meeting the convernor is absent, the members present shall elect one of themselves to preside at that meeting. 293 No. 5 Village Land 1999 (9) The quorum at a meeting of the village land council shall be four persons of whom at least two shall be women. (10) In the event of an equality of votes, the chairman or other member presiding shall have a casting vote as well as an original vote. (11) The provisions of section 10 shall apply to the members of a council. Functions of 61.-(1) Where any villager or person the village land residing or working in a village or thecouncil council orvillage a non-village organisation within the village or a person coming within an agreement sectionmade under 11 or an arrangement made under section 58 has a dispute with any other villager or person residing or working in a village or with the village council or a non village organisation within the village or a person coming within an agreement made under section 11 or an arrangement 294 1999Village LandNo. 5 made under section 58 over any matter land within thatconcerning village village or land to which sections 11 or 58 apply, all parties to that dispute may agree to call in the services of the vil lage land council or its member to me diate between and assist those parties to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute, (2) Where the parties to a dispute referred to in subsection (1) agree to call in the village land council, the convenor of the village land council shall, after discussing the matter with the parties to the dispute, either (a) convene a meeting of the vi llage land council; or (b) appoint one or more members of the village land council, to act as mediators between the parties to the dispute. (3) Where the convenor or any member of the Village Council becomes aware of or is informed of a dispute as subsection (1), theto inreferred convenor shall use his best endeavours to persuade all parties to the dispute to 295 No. 5 1999Village Land make use of the services of the village land council or one or more of its mem bers to act as mediators in the dispute. (4) The village land council shall exercise its functions of mediation in accordance with (a) any customary principles of mediation; (b) natural justice in so far as any customary principles of mediation do provide for them; not already any principles and practices of mediation in which the members may have received any training. (c) (5) A member of a village land council shall not act as mediator in any case in which he or a member of his im mediate family has interest and for the avoidance of doubt, a member of the vil lage land council who is a member of or an employee of the village council or any non-village organisation which is in 296 No. 5 1999 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 63 -(1) Any person who-Offences knowingly makes any false(a) inororallystatement, writing, in connection with otherordispositionany transaction affecting land or matter arisingotherany under this Act; or (b) knowingly gives any false information or makes any false statement, either orally .or in writing, in connection with any call for information or in connection with any theinto commission of any offence 299 Village Land PART VI investigation 1999Village LandNo. 5 instrument referred into subparagraph (1); (iii) the cancellation amendmentor of any of the aforesaid documents or instruments or entries or endorsements I fraudulently alters,(d) adds to, erases, defaces, mutilates, or destroys any documents or instrument relating to land or any entry on or of anyendorsement 300 1999Village Land... such document or instrument; (e) suppresses or conceals from the theCommissioner,, anyRegistrar, authorized officer or any officer of a village council exercising powers under this Act or assists or joins in so doing, any material factdocument, or matter, commits an offence and upon conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding one mil lion shillings or imprisonment for a term (2) Any person who without 301 not exceeding three years or to both, the fine and imprisonment 1999Village LandNo. 5 reasonable excuse, fails to produce any document as required under this Act commits an offence and upon conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand shillings or imprisonment for. . a term not exceeding three months or to both, the fine and imprisonment.o . (3) Any person who unlawfully occupies land commits an offence and upon conviction is liable, to a fine not exceeding.ten thousand shillings, and in the case of a continuing offence to an additional fine not exceeding five hun dred shillings for every day during which the offence continues.% (4) Any person who wrongfully obstructs or encroaches on a public right of way and who does not within the time' ~ I him, ,specified in any notice served on remove that obstruction or cease that 302 1999Village land delays; or(a) obstructs;or(b) 9 hinders- or(c) 5 (d) intimidates- or 1 assaults,(e) any person authorized under this Act to . enter and inspect any land in the lawful in that behalf commitsexercise of power an offence and upon conviction is liable, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand shillings or to a term of impris onment not exceeding one year or to both the fine and imprisonment . 303 encroachment commits an offence and upon conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings and in the case of a continuing offence, to an additional fine not exceeding two hundred shillings for every day during which the offence continues (5) Any person who wilfully Village, LandNo. 5 1999 (6) Any person who, under this Act, whether generally or for a specific function, in the course of any official function or otherwise unlawfully or With force enters on the land of any person or while On land, wilfully commits any damage to the land or anything on the land, whether naturally on the land, or stock owned by any person using the land or crops planted or buildings erected on the land commits an offence and upon conviction is liable on to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand shillings or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both, the fine and imprisonment. (7) Where a court has convicted any person of an offence under this section . and the commission of that offence 304 1999Village Land enabled that person to obtain or retain or regain any interest in land which he would otherwise not have been able to obtain, retain or regain, the court may in addition to any punishment provided for by this section imposed on that person, make any order in relation to that interest in land so obtained, retained or regained by that person as appears to the court necessary to ensure that that person does not profit by the offence of which he has been convicted. Corrupt 64.-(I) Nothing in this Act shall be transactions taken or construed to validate, affirm, authenticate or give any legal effect to certificate ofany grant of a customary occupancy, or any disposition, or any contract for any of transaction which... ... was obtained or induced by any corrupt . 305 1999No. 5 action, on the part of any government or public or local government official and such a transaction is hereby declared to be and: to have, been from its inception an illegal transaction, void and having absolutely no legal effect. (2) For purposes of this section, a transaction shall be taken to be affected or tainted by corruption when either any party involved directly(a) theinor indirectly oftransaction in respect which it is alleged that an action iswas corrupt convicted of corruption and a final appeals arising from that conviction have been concluded; or any civil servant or other public. official j is interdicted, (b) 306 Village Land 1999 or is, retired in the public interest, from his post on the grounds that he has been, engaged in corrupt action and. that. these actions I involved that transaction; or (c) an investigatory body reports that it is satisfied or that transaction was procured by... corrupt practices. (3) Any Person occupying land which he obtained as a consequence of , Participating, in any of the transactions covered by subsections (1) and (2) shall be liable to forfeit that Land to the President without. any entitlement to any compensation. that(4) aNotwithstanding transaction covered by this, section is 307 Village land Village LandNo. 5 1999 void, a person occupying land as a consequence of that transaction shall be and shall always have been obliged to 'comply with all the terms and conditions of the transaction as if it had been a valid transaction and' shall be liable to all the remedies which may be applied to a person who fails to comply with the and conditionsterms of a valid transaction in addition to any penalties appliedwhich bemay under this section.. Regulations 65.-(I) The Minister may make for, theregulations generally better carrying into effect of the Purposes and provisions of this Act and without prejudice generalityto the of the such regulations may prescribe 308 foregoing 1999Village Land (a) the forms to be used in connection with this Act; beprocedures to(b) the followed villageby adjudication committees, village adjudication advisers and other officers exercising powers under Part IVC of this Act; procedures to be followed(c) with respect to the making of any claim for compensation and the payment of any compensation under this Act; (d) the alteration from; time to dine- of the amount which may be advanced by way of a small mortagage; the form And scope of joint(e) village land use agreements; . 309 I No. 5 Village land 1999 (2) A village council may, with the approval of the District, Council and . . . subject to any general directive of the Minister, make by laws for the better management and administration of land matters within the jurisdiction of the village land. (3) The procedure for making by laws under subsection (2) shall be as prescribed mutatis mutandis, by the ... provisions of .Part VI of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982. Translation 66.-(I) The Minister shall as soon as practicable after the enactment of this.... . . Act cause this Act. to be translated into. Kiswahili and such translation shall be published in the Gazette and in such other manner and form as will enable 310 .1999Village Land the citizens of Tanzania to gain access to such translation. (2) The Minister: shall, by order published in the Gazette cause to be in corporate into the kiswahili version of this Act and published in the Gazette any... amendments made to this Act. (3) Any form prescribed under this Act shall be made available to the members of the public in both English and Kiswahili. ... Passed in the National Assembly on the I l' February, 1999. ... Clerk of the National Assembly Printed by the Government Printer Dar es Salaam.--Tanzania