Felix Rubogora
Land as fundamental livelihood asset on which other activities (shelter, food production, etc.) depend on, should be governed and managed in a framework that treated people (all) as key actors with right to access, use and control over. Therefore the necessity of land administration became a cornerstone and has become a large pipe by which financial movements flow to and from. The purpose of this paper was to examine whether the new land policy in Rwanda was implemented in both rural and peri-urban areas in respect of right-based principles. Through a mini field work it was revealed that in the process of implementing its newly adopted land policy, Rwanda might have run a long distance in a short period of time to achieve a course of action that would have taken long in normal situation. Non-discrimination and equality was the most successfully achieved principle. The policy made it clear that both man and woman have all equal right to land. It was noted that the issue of land grabbing and other disputes have reduced. In case of expropriation, landholders trust leaders. In the rural area, local people haven’t yet caught economic benefits of land registration and titling. Land is still honorific and prestigious asset for most of rural residents. The implementation of land policy shows no sign that rural communities were empowered on how land right could lead to a variety of economic opportunities. Both peri-urban and rural areas do not face same challenges. In rural area, right-based principles were applied, but the extent tends to diminish compared to peri-urban one.
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