Property
A dual land system: freehold in the Western Area, customary tenure in the provinces
Land law divides territorially. In the Western Area land may be held in freehold and is registered under the general law; in the provinces land is vested in communities and administered by Paramount Chiefs, and non-natives historically could obtain only leasehold. The Customary Land Rights Act 2022 reformed provincial tenure.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — High Court for Western Area title; National Land Commission and district committees plus local courts for customary land in the provinces.
Governing law
- Customary Land Rights Act, 2022 — Recognises customary rights; FPIC and spousal consent for large-scale acquisitions.
- National Land Commission Act, 2022 — Creates the Commission and district land committees.
- Provinces Land Act, Cap 122 — Historic provincial tenure; partially superseded.
In practice
The Western Area, as a former colony, operates a general-law system with freehold estates, conveyancing and deeds registration under the Registration of Instruments Act. The provinces, as former protectorate, are governed by the Provinces Land Act, under which land is held by chiefdom communities and a non-native could not acquire freehold, only a lease with the consent of the chiefdom authority — the source of long-running disputes over large agricultural concessions. The Customary Land Rights Act 2022 and the National Land Commission Act 2022 are the major reform: they recognise customary land rights as equivalent in security to statutory rights, require the free, prior and informed consent of landowning families for large-scale acquisitions, provide for spousal and community consent, prohibit acquisitions in ecologically sensitive areas, and create a National Land Commission with district structures to record rights. Implementation is at an early stage, so practitioners must check both the new Acts and the surviving provisions of the Provinces Land Act.