Why Tanzania won’t back down on land in bloc deal

By George Obulutsa

Tanzania remains opposed to proposals relating to land ownership in a common market protocol for the East African Community (EAC), a minister said, signalling an impasse likely to delay any deal.

The EAC which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi has set itself a January 1, 2010 target to have an operational common market that would

allow the free movement of goods, services, people and capital within the bloc. Kenya says the EAC could sign the common markets deal, designed to boost trade within the bloc, by the end of this month, but for Tanzania’s reservations over issues concerning travel documents, land ownership and the right of permanent residence.

Tanzania’s EAC Affairs Minister Diodorus Kamala said his country still opposed proposals that citizens from other EAC states could own land in Tanzania through a proposed law that would override the country’s own legislation.

"What we don’t want to have in the protocol is to have it saying ‘All East Africans are guaranteed to access land in Tanzania.’ Because it is not our obligation. So that is non-negotiable," Kamala told Reuters in an interview.

Under Tanzanian law, the Government holds all land in trust. Investors, including foreigners, can lease it for fixed periods.

The system is a relic of Tanzania’s socialist past when the government took possession of all land and herded large numbers into villages and had them working on communal land.

Clarification needed

Tanzania wants clarity about who would qualify for permanent residency, but says anyone who has gainful employment would be granted residence during the duration of their employment.

"What we agreed is that if you go to Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda or Burundi then get a job, you should be allowed to stay there to work," Kamala said.

"But if you want to come to Tanzania with no job, no legitimate economic activity, it doesn’t make sense." Tanzania also wants national passports, the East African passport and temporary passes to be the only valid travel documents, not national ID cards, which it currently lacks.Kamala rebuffed any suggestion Tanzania was holding back the protocol: "Every partner is a sovereign state.

Saying that because Tanzania has a different view, so that is holding back, that is nonsense."

The EAC launched a customs union for three of its largest economies, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, in 2005. Rwanda and Burundi are expected to join it in July. The union sets common tariffs for goods entering the region.

—Reuters

 

 

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