Property
All land is public land vested in the President as trustee
The Land Act and Village Land Act of 1999 vest all land in the President as trustee for the citizens. What is held is a right of occupancy — granted for up to 99 years, or customary in the villages — and freehold does not exist. Non-citizens may hold land only for investment purposes.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Village land councils, ward tribunals, the District Land and Housing Tribunal, and the Land Division of the High Court.
- Deadline — Granted right of occupancy: up to 99 years
- Deadline — Customary right of occupancy: of indefinite duration, registrable at village level
- Deadline — Compensation on revocation: assessed before possession
Governing law
- Land Act, 1999No. 4 of 1999
- Village Land Act, 1999No. 5 of 1999
- Land Disputes Courts Act, 2002
In practice
Tanzanian land law is the clearest African example of a deliberate refusal of freehold: the 1999 statutes preserved the socialist-era principle that land belongs to the nation, and gave customary rights of occupancy in villages the same legal status as granted rights in the towns. For an investor, the practical consequence is that land is obtained by derivative right through the Tanzania Investment Centre, never bought outright.