The suspension on the issuance of land titles on arable land in the rural community is a new decision that the President, Macky Sall, made in order to prevent conflicts over land, often noted in rural areas. Will this decision, which follows another one that gives more power to the territorial administration, made last September, be sufficient? Is it sufficient, if we know that land disputes are still awaiting a definitive solution and that the recommendations of the National Land Reform Commission are not being applied?
To prevent land conflicts in rural areas, no land title will be issued for land intended for agriculture, announced the President of the Republic, Macky Sall, at a press conference on Thursday, December 31, 2020, after his speech to the nation. “I instructed the Minister of Finance to carry out the reform so that land titles are not issued for arable land. Due to land titles, arable land will cease to exist. Foreigners would be landowners here,” Macky Sall hit home in response to a question about land, whose management continues to cause problems throughout the country, both in urban and rural areas, which are now increasingly coveted by investors, developers and other wealthy people. The Pan-African Institute for Citizenship, Consumers and Development in Africa (CICODEV Africa) positively showed appreciation for this executive decision, through a statement issued on Sunday, January 17, 2021.
“CICODEV welcomes this stance from the President which aims to protect the legitimate land rights of local communities who have been using these lands for decades. In this regard, it is crucial to recall that land is a source of life and survival in rural areas, a resource that is indispensable to food sovereignty for Senegal. This announcement by the Head of State responds to an old complaint of many civil society organizations, involved in reflecting and acting on land tenure in Senegal (CRAFS) namely, as part of the land reform policy that was initiated since 2012,” the document reads. “Concretely, the President’s position means that it will no longer be possible for an investor (national or foreign), a real estate developer, a political elite or a religious leader to be assigned a land title on agricultural land in rural areas,” the note adds, Furthermore, “with the implementation of this measure, local communities will no longer be permanently dispossessed of their land without their informed consent and fair compensation, where expropriation is necessary because it is in the proven public interest,” it emphasizes.
A PRESIDENTIAL DECISION THAT CONCEALS OTHERS
This injunction to protect arable land, comes as a complement to another decision previously taken by the President, still aiming to prevent conflicts and secure land tenure. On September 16, 2020, President Macky Sall decided to reinforce the territorial administration’s authority in land allocation within the National Domain. Decree No. 72-1288 of October 27, 1972 on the conditions for the allocation and land withdrawal from the National Domain was amended to set new rules. For example, a plot of land of less than 10 hectares must be assigned by the City Council’s deliberation, after the prefect or sub-prefect’s endorsement. Land between 10 and 50 hectares, can only be authorized by the departmental prefect. For land larger than 50 hectares, authority rests with the regional governor. This aims, according to President Macky Sall, to provide a better framework for the deliberations made by local elected officials, which are often a source of problems. All these decisions for land management regulation in the rural world follow the conclusions of the National Land Reform Commission (CNRF) which, even if they are not implemented, have highlighted the crucial need for the sector’s organization and security, which is so important, especially in order to curb food insecurity and poverty in Senegal. Indeed, land tenure reform emphasizes the need to ensure land tenure security of farms, i.e. to protect the possession and use of land by these farms. More importantly, according to the CNRF document, it is necessary to bring the legislative and regulatory texts governing land tenure into line with the legitimacy of land tenure practices currently practiced in the field. These conclusions also underline the need to provide a framework for land transferability, to permit land mobility that promotes the development of more viable farms.
LAND MINES WAITING TO BE DEFUSED
It remains to be seen whether the new decisions will have a significant impact on the land crises across the country. In the meantime, Ndengler’s case, with the temporary solution that has been found, between the local populations and Babacar Ngom, is a ticking time bomb that must be defused. The dispute between the populations of the village of Tobéne and its surroundings and the Chemical Industries of Senegal (Ics), is also on hold, due to the lack of an agreement on the remuneration per hectare of the impacted people. These two major problems are only the tip of the iceberg of land-related conflicts that have been noted and recorded here and there and that deserve a sustainable solution.
FATOU NDIAYE
Source :http://www.sudonline.sn/ of January 19, 2021