Property
Tribal, state and freehold tenure with land boards allocating customary rights
Land falls into three categories: tribal land (about 70 per cent), state land and freehold. Tribal land is allocated by statutory Land Boards under the Tribal Land Act, not by chiefs personally, and a customary land grant can now be certified and in practice mortgaged. The Deeds Registry records freehold and long leases.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Land Boards allocate tribal land; the Land Tribunal hears appeals; the Deeds Registry records registrable title.
Governing law
- Tribal Land Act 2018 — Land Boards; certificates of customary grant
- State Land ActCap 32:01
- Deeds Registry ActCap 33:02
In practice
The 2018 Act completed a long shift of customary allocation from chiefly discretion to statutory boards, which was intended to make customary holdings bankable. The practical result is a three-tier system in which the security of a holding depends on which category the land sits in, and conversion between categories is an administrative act rather than a conveyance.