Resource information
Over the last decade, the Government of Rwanda (GoR) has introduced several land reforms through formulation and enactment of enabling legal framework, establishment of land administration institutions and implementation of national land tenure regularization. Further, the Land Act of 2013 stipulated that all landholders must formally register their land. To support registration compliance, the GoR decentralized the Land Administration System (LAS) to all District Land Bureaus (DLBs). This research made an attempt to investigate the extent to which citizens: 1) are aware of the system and how to comply with requirements; 2) have access to the system in terms of distance, time, procedure, and cost; and 3) are impacted by services provided by the current LAS. Results indicate that almost all surveyed citizens (99%) know about the formal LAS, whereas about half of them are not familiar with its procedures. As some respondents (18%) did not use the LAS to register transactions, the study investigated the influence of factors on citizens’ decision to use or not use the LAS. Results suggest that age, sex and income of landowners, location, type of land use and how a property was acquired are important determinants of citizens’ choice to use LAS or not. Moreover, the survey indicates that in some parts of the country distances to DLBs from citizens’ homes are very long. Furthermore, results show that Rwandans do not access credit despite having a land certificate which can be used as collateral for loan repayment security. Based on findings, the study suggests to rapidly deploy trained land managers at more local administrative levels, reconsider the level of fixed fees charged for registering land transactions based on size or property value, and carry out further investigations on land disputes and on restrictions on subdivision of agricultural land stipulated in the land law.
