Pothin MUVARA

1. 16th Meeting of Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP)Kigali (KCC), November 21st - 26th, 2016 The Land Registration Program in Rwanda: Facts and Developments Pothin MUVARA Deputy Registrar of Land Titles/Eastern Province - Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA)

2. Outline • Land reforms • Trials 2007 – 2009 • Land Tenure Regularization • Land Administration Information System - Maintenance and update • Linking land registration with land use and sustainable land management • Challenges • Projections

3. Land reforms • Rwanda Vision 2020 - • Pillar 1-Social Capital. Land titles, and the legal status that goes with them support to raise social capital • Pillar 2- Agricultural Transformation. Land titles to support land use consolidation and food security • Pillar 3- Private Sector Development. Quick access to land and availability of bank collaterals • Pillar 4-Infrastructure Development (need of land to build roads, bridges, …., new infrastructure stimulates development and changes in land use, land taxes contribute to the financing of infrastructure development.

4. Reforms (cont’d)

5. Reforms (cont’d) The national Land Policy To answer 4 questions: • Legal Framework for land management and land administration • Setting up land institutional framework • Registering all land parcels countrywide – Security of land tenure • Rational land use through National and District Land Use Planning Principles: • Land common heritage of past, present and future generations • Equity to guide the rights to acquire land and property • Land Administration to guarantee the security of tenure • Land use management to take into account the protection of fragile zones for national interest. • Land use management to include organisation of human settlement and promotion of land consolidation • A well defined and strengthened legal and institutional framework shall lead the implementation of the land policy for the benefit of land users and the state.

6. Reforms (cont’d) • Legally speaking: • Land Law (June 2013) amending Organic Land Law of 2005: • Security of tenure through leasing – art 5 • Right to Freehold for developed land – Art 6 • Category of land art 9-16 • Individual land • State land (public and private) • Land use – according to planning art 19 • Land allocation and leasing – art 16 • Land registration – obligatory – Art 20 • Land transfer – art 21 and 22 • Land right for foreigners – Art 23 - 24 • Land Rights and obligations – Art 34-44 • Prescription (ubuzime) – art 45-49 • Penalties (requisition and Confiscation) – art 50-63 • 23 Secondary legislations implementing the new land law were developed, they are now under review • Among them: expropriation law, valuation law, ……

7. Reforms (cont’d) • Institutional framework – Decentralized set up • The Ministry of Natural Resources • National Land Commission (removed by the new land law) • Rwanda Natural Resources Authority/ Department of Lands and Mapping (former National Land Centre) and Office of Registrar of Land Titles • Kigali City and District Land Commissions (removed by the new land law) • District Land Bureaux • Sector and Cell land committees (are being reviewed as per the new land law) • Sector Land Managers (SLMs)

8. Reforms (cont’d) • 2008 LAIS Development (LAIS) begins (executed by Kadaster of Netherlands ) • 2009 - 2013 Land Tenure Regularization roll out • 2011 Rwanda Natural Resources Authority • June 2012: parcels demarcation completion • June 2012 LAIS operational, receives data from LTR database and handles issuance of certificates and leases • June 2013: New land law • June 2013: Completion of land titles issuance • 2016: LAIS/V2 connecting admin part to GIS part • The journey: • 2003 New Constitution of Rwanda, art. 29: Every person has a right to private property • 2004 National Land Policy formulated • 2005 Organic Land Law (OLL) enacted • 2006 National Land Commission set up • 2006 – 2007 Office of Registrar of Land Titles • 2007-2009 Trial phase: 13.346 rural parcels were inventorized in three different typical locations using satellite images • 2007 - 2012 Formulation of the National Land Use and Development Master Plan • 2008 National Land Centre • 2008 Strategic Road Map (SRM) for Land tenure Reform in Rwanda passed by cabinet • 2008-2009 Large scale aerial photography of 99% of the country and orthophoto map production

9. Trials (2007 – 2009) Outputs Objectives • Test the law and the main issues related to implementation. Fact based assessments, supported by primary data • Inform the secondary legislation (laws and decrees) to reflect the issues on the ground • Identify un-forseen issues that may arise resulting from implementation • Quantify more specifically the resources required at District, Sector and Cell Levels • Test the public requirements/response

10. Trials (cont’d) • Primary population perception: • Participants very receptive to reform • Prefer state to be custodian of their land rights • Documentation is important (hard title) • Believe it will facilitate dispute resolution • Believe land titles will support economic development (land market) • Main operational conclusions: • Local capacity will be used to the full • Need for public awareness and training • Fieldwork informed the development of legislation and procedures • Feasible to use aerial photography and images for land demarcation • Trials enabled detailed planning of work rates and resource requirements

11. Land Tenure Regularization (LTR) The Strategic Road Map: • Key strategic issues clarified – legal, institutional and technical • Programmes, timelines and costs developed • Framework for future monitoring and evaluation • Donor, Public and CSO consultation and information structures developed

12. L TR (cont’d) • Mobilising funds for LTR • Total cost: 56 million USD (Government of Rwanda, DFID, SIDA, Netherlands, EC/GCCA, IFAD) • Cost-recovery approach – 1000 Rwf (=1.6USD)/ rural area and 5000RWF (=8.3USD)/Kigali City – In total 7million USD recovered. • LTR Approach • Initial estimation of 7.9 million parcels of land in Rwanda in 2148 cells • Land tenure regularization: parcel by parcel and cell by cell • Participatory approach with Cell Land Committees • General Boundary principle – Land surveying – with aerial/satellite ortho-photos • National roll out started in June 2009, a support team joined in July 2010 (HTPSE) • Rwanda has 26,338 sqkms • 4 Provinces plus the City of Kigali • 30 Districts • 416 Sectors • 2148 Cells

13. LTR (cont’d) Aerial Photography • 96% Aerial Photo • 4% high resolution satellite Images

14. Bringing land onto the register LTR (cont’)

15. LTR (cont’d)

16. LTR (cont’d) Participatory Mapping (P-Mapping)

17. SLR - Locating parcels on the index map

18. SLR - Adjudication • A claim/dispute is recorded in the claim/dispute register and fee paid. • A claim/dispute receipt issued

19. Map digitization Data entry LTR (cont’d)

20. LTR - LTRSS LTRSS designed for the issuance of the first titles

21. LTR (cont’d) - Completion • 120 Field Managers – 4 per Districts • 4500 to 5000 people per day for two years involved in Demarcation and demarcation • 90 GIS Professional for digitisation – Working double shifts to maximise use of Arc- GIS license • 400 Data Entry Clerks – working double shift • 120 People doing checking • 300 causal staffs doing stamping and packing • 50 Project Drivers and 60 hired cars • In 2148 Cells a total of 10.3 millions parcels were demarcated • Out of them 87% had full information on claimants (June 2013) • 324,000 parcels in imidugudu demarcated and Adjudicated (January 2015) • Less than 1% (11,840) disputes registered • 80% of conflicts are intra-family related • 8.4 million titles approved and Printed for issuance (June 2013) • 6.5million Titles collected by owners (June 2013)

22. LTR (cont’d) – Amazing numbers • 30,000 Titles printed everyday in three shifts (this is 120,000 Papers) • Sides of A4 printed: 80 million sides (Pages stacked equivalent to more than 13.5 times the height of the Empire State building). • Total Geo-data to manage: 15 million megabytes (1875 8GB ipods) • Plotter paper used: 50 kms • Vehicle kilometres run: 4 million kms (Equivalent to moon and back 5 times)

23. LTR (cont’d) – Key innovations and success stories • Use of modern technology/Orthophotos (with a high resolution of 0.25m) – IT support (LTRSS and LAIS) • Use of unconventional methods • Participatory approach (P-mapping and mass adjudication) – Adjudication successfully conducted by locally trained members • Linkage between land tenure recognition and land use • Recognition of women’s rights and other vulnerable groups • Digital land register linked to other services (information provider) • Increased and continuous awareness campaign • High speed (3 years) and low cost (more or less 6 US $/per plot)

24. Land Administration System • Procedures for land transactions and registration • Forms for any type of request • Requirements for any type of transaction • Person responsible LAIS and Maintenance and update Continued support (DFID, Netherlands, SIDA, EU, ICF, WB)

25. LAIS (cont’d) – Is an electronic set up

26. LAIS (cont’d) – Is decentralized • LAIS is a fiber optic network based infrastructure • It is based on a VPN connection • It is connected to: • Province level (all 5 Zones connected) • District level (all 30 Districts connected) • Sector level (projected)

27. LAIS (cont’d) – Is accessible to the public through a mobile phone application • The subscriber dials *651# and then presses Yes. • The subscriber gets the status of the plot comprising of area, registered owners, whether it is disputed or presented as collateral at any bank”. No more queues at Offices

29. LAIS (cont’d) – Is friendly searchable by users

30. LAIS (cont’d) – Offers accountability through LQNS application

31. LAIS (cont’d) – Is a friendly support to businesses and investment • One Step One Day Land Transfer • Other than commercial and industrial transactions, a maximum of 15 days • Ranking (all indicators): • World Ranking: 52 • Africa: 2nd after Mauritius • Registering Property • Worldwide ranking: Rwanda is number 4 after New Zealand (1), Lithuania (2) and Georgia (3), • Africa ranking: 1st

32. LAIS (cont’d) - Is a resource for Irembo platform

33. LAIS (cont’d) – Is a resource for RDB based e-MRS LAIS NIDP Registrar General Creditor Debtor Notary eMRS BusReg AoMA Others Notarized AoMA All banks and RDB are connected to LAIS ORG Certificate

34. LAIS (cont’d) – Supports to improve urban planning, infrastructure development and compliance with land use

36. LAIS (cont’d) – Supports Kigali City Construction Permitting System

37. LAIS (cont’d) – supports …. • Dispute resolution • MINIJUST started to develop an electronic platform • Tax collection: Electronic platform annual lease fee payment (use, location, size)

38. LAIS (cont’d) – Supports good governance and transparency, anti-corruption culture, public good management • Assets declaration to the Ombudsman

39. LAIS (cont’d) – Provides statistics

40. LAIS (cont’d) – Accuracy - Spatial data acquisition Making use of a high-accuracy surveying tablet (working as differential GPS)

41. Linking land registration with use and sustainable land management • The lease contract template provides for the following: • Article 2: land use defined for every piece of land (residential, commercial, industrial, ….., agriculture, including livestock, forest, ….) • Article 9: Beneficial Occupancy- The Lessee …… is bound at all times to maintain good standards and practices, so as to maintain and improve the land and any immoveable property incorporated with or attached to the land. The Lessee shall comply with the rules and regulations applicable to the land, …… , take all reasonable steps to prevent soil erosion, pollution or waste, or obstruct the flow of water in any river, stream or channel and shall remedy any defect therein, during the continuance of this lease. • Article 10:Land Use - If a Master Plan exists which prescribes the use of the land subject to the Lease, the Lessee may not change the land from the prescribed use without obtaining written authorisation in accordance with the applicable regulations. • Article 51 of the 2013 land law - Organ in charge of land use inspection • The Sector administration is in charge of inspecting whether the land is properly exploited and in a productive way. • Every year, at the latest on 31st March, Sector authority shall make, to the District administration, an inspection report on the use of individual land, land allocated by the State or its institutions to investors, land in private domain of the State and its institutions with legal personality. • District authority, after analysing those reports, shall send to the Minister in charge of land an assessment note with recommendations.

42. Challenges • Informal transactions: • Relatively high fees for transaction including transport cost • Restriction to subdivide agricultural land • Land subdivision cost • Ignorance and lack of awareness of the importance of registering any land transactions • Lack economic value or incentives to register formally (in case of succession for instance) • Absence/insufficient skills in certain LM area

43. Projections ….. and to come • Online services • Understanding moving from paper titles with stamps to fully electronic land registry • Strategies to make LAIS sustainable (security, capacity building, ….) • Involvement of private professionals in land administration (conveyancing, surveying, ….) • Full self-sufficient and autonomous land registry

44. Thank you for your kind attention.