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This study examines and analyses the expropriation laws and practices in Ethiopia. The objective of the thesis is to analyze and describe the land rights and expropriation laws in Ethiopia and to compare them with the practice in order to determine the fairness of compensation. The study is made against the Ethiopian Constitution and other subsidiary legislations which provide the basic land rights and the nature and details of expropriation. The basic argument made in this thesis is that even if the Ethiopian Constitution provides and guarantees common ownership of land (together with the state) to the people, this right has not been fully realized whether in terms of land accessibility, enjoyablity, and payment of fair compensation in the event of expropriation. The reasons have to do either with the faulty nature of the laws or with their implementation by public authorities. From the outset, the constitution excludes land as a subject of compensation. For this reason, land is being excluded from the compensation package and hence it has no value for the holder. Urban land holders are denied location value of their property, which they can collect it otherwise during sale, and hence the compensation becomes unfair. Similarly, rural farmers are denied compensation for the complete loss of their farm land. The denial of compensation for the value of the land is categorically in contradiction with the very principle of joint ownership of land by the people and the state. There are also other reasons which are related to the law or its practical applicability, such as valuation process which reduces the amount of compensation. There are also property interests which are not included as compensable interests. Payment of compensation is one factor for secure property right and hence sustainable development. To ensure fair compensation in the event of compensation, a legal and policy level reform is necessary to address and amend the existing problems. Further, to harmonize the laws and practices is imperative to reduce the amount of injustice existed in today’s expropriation procedure in Ethiopia. / <p>QC 20131122</p>

Issues of access to land and realisation of land rights have always existed in Uganda as women are considered to be potential land owners. Such rights usually have to do with the rights of individuals to particular plots of land, but also with rights to land held collectively. The situation in post conflict northern Uganda was brought about by the displacement of people from their villages, but it only served to perpetuate this situation. The conflict in northern Uganda began in 1988 between the government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2010. / A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Atangcho N. Akonumbo of the Faculty of Law, Catholic University of Central Africa, Cameroon. 2010. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

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No description available.

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This dissertation documents a Garifuna community in transition as it seeks to attain international protection as an indigenous community. The Garifuna, an Afro-Indigenous group, have farmed and fished along the Caribbean Coast of Honduras for more than two hundred years, and they are attempting to protect access to natural resources that have been privatized and limited by development programs. Local Garifuna activists have mobilized community members to safeguard local resources by ensuring that community-held land titles are honored and that the community is preserved as culturally Garifuna. While tourism has been a major driver for the region economically, using the Garifuna culture and natural resources as attractions, the benefits have not been equitably distributed. Claims of economic success through tourism do not match the actual lived realities of community livelihoods, land use, local politics, development, and community discourses.

This thesis examines the extent to which Kenya’s domestic legal framework vindicates indigenous peoples’ land rights. The question of who is an indigenous person in Kenya is, of course, controversial. In order to avoid becoming enmeshed in this debate, this thesis adopts the approach of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is based on identifying the key concerns faced by marginalised communities who self-identify as indigenous peoples. Such an approach assumes that it really does not matter which label attaches to a group of people when vindicating their fundamental rights, provided that those rights are indeed available to be vindicated. In keeping with this assumption, the main argument of this thesis is that indigenous peoples’ core claim to land rights in Kenya can be accommodated within the mainstream legal framework, including the Constitution, legislation, and judicial decisions. In arguing thus, this thesis contradicts the common assumption, shared by numerous African states, that satisfying indigenous peoples’ claims requires a special legal framework. This assumption is all too often used to deny indigenous peoples’ claims on the basis that satisfying them requires preferential treatment. On the contrary, this thesis argues, it is possible to meet indigenous peoples’ claims by adopting general legal measures aimed at redressing past injustices and continuing socio-economic deprivation and inequality. This thesis further argues that measures aimed at redressing past injustices and alleviating current socio-economic inequality should take into account the particular circumstances of the groups targeted. In the case of indigenous peoples, who rely on their traditional lands for economic sustenance, and for whom land has a special cultural and spiritual significance, this means that the restitution of land should be central to any attempt to redress their particular concerns. As a practical matter, indigenous peoples’ land rights in Kenya may be vindicated in two main ways. The first is through a progressive interpretation of the existing legal framework by courts. Such interpretation hinges on giving effect to existing provisions in Kenya’s Constitution, particularly the right to life, non-discrimination and equality, protection from deprivation of property, and the Trust lands provisions. Progressive interpretation of the existing legal framework could also include recognition and application of the concept of indigenous title. The second way in which indigenous peoples’ land rights may be vindicated is by reforming the law to cater for all previously marginalised groups. Such reforms should include support for land restitution and redistribution, and equal application of African customary law. The first way in which indigenous peoples’ land rights may be vindicated is predicated on judicial activism. Using a court case by the Ogiek indigenous community, this thesis argues that, while the Kenyan legal framework has the potential to protect the land rights of indigenous peoples, its interpretation by the courts has been restrictive. It is therefore imperative that the law should be reformed to accommodate the rights of all marginalised groups. Such reforms need not be specifically designed to protect indigenous peoples, but rather all communities and individuals who are not adequately protected by the existing legal framework. A case study of the Maasai indigenous community is also undertaken to highlight the limitations of assimilationist legal measures that, far from protecting the groups they are meant to assist, instead entrench the status quo. The Maasai group ranches scheme, while ostensibly anchored in the legal framework, was designed to convert otherwise harmonious community land relations to a statutory regime that ignored community traditions and the Maasai’s preferred way of life. The failure of this scheme and the eventual subdivision of Maasai land provide strong evidence of the lack of appreciation and regard for Kenya’s indigenous peoples and the fundamental principles of justice, non-discrimination and equality prevailing at that time. The legal reform option for vindicating indigenous peoples’ rights is dependent upon political processes. By recourse to two comparable experiences, South Africa and Namibia, the thesis demonstrates that indigenous peoples’ land rights can be vindicated through a legal framework adopted to cater for all previously marginalized groups. Albeit fraught with constraints, South Africa’s indigenous peoples have utilised the legal reforms that were enacted to redress the historical injustices of the apartheid regime. Although Namibia has also adopted some legal reforms, especially relating to land redistribution, the apparent lack of political will to address the rights of her most marginalised communities hampers their effectiveness. The Namibian case shows that political processes can not be relied upon to right the wrongs suffered by marginalised peoples, especially when those groups lack political clout. However, as in South Africa, where the end of apartheid provided an ideal political environment to press for reforms that would cater for marginalised peoples’ needs, the political crisis following the December 2007 elections in Kenya provides an important window of opportunity. In the negotiations that followed this crisis, land reform has been identified as one of the key issues that demands comprehensive resolution for peace and prosperity to prevail. It is therefore imperative that genuine reforms that accord all Kenyan people an equitable share of her resources and address historical land injustices are adopted. Such reforms, it is argued, would enable indigenous people to vindicate their land rights, alongside other marginalised peoples. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

In Uganda there has been evidence of land evictions over the past years which has left many people landless and homeless. This study sets out the national standards with the major emphasis on the some of the provisions of the 1995 Constitution that deal with land rights and the 1998 land Act. In addition to the above, it tackles some international standards found under ICESCR, ICCPR and the Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement that have to be followed either before or after land evictions. Despite the fact that Uganda is a dualist State, there is need for it to take into consideration international standards that cater for land evictions since it is a member State to both ICESCR and ICCPR. Furthermore, the study discusses only three cases among others of land evictions that have occurred in Uganda and it analyses them against the national and international human rights standards. This study is of the view that most of the land evictions that are carried out in the country are not in line with national and international human rights standards. Therefore, there is need to ensure that people’s human rights are protected through the implementation of the existing national and international human rights standards. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Abstract The study aimed to investigate the issue of women’s access and rights to land in Kenya. The study targeted Yaw Pachi women’s group, Siaya district who have experienced several problems of land tenure in terms of access and rights within their community which is Luo by tribe. The factors that influence these women’s access to land were also examined. The factors included Luo customary law, Luo customary practices, statutory laws as well as statutory institutions. The study also aimed to analyse the 2006 Draft National Land Policy by looking at what aspects of gender reform had been incorporated into the policy. The study examined the role of the land board as a statutory institution responsible for ensuring women and men have equal access and rights to land. In order to collect data, this study used qualitative method of social research. The researcher chose a small sample based on the research being conducted using a case study method. The sample was from an area where the phenomena such as customary laws and practices are prevalent. Qualitative research enables the researcher to collect and analyse in-depth information on a smaller group of respondents. Documentary analysis, interview techniques were used to gather data. The study population comprised of seventeen women from Yaw Pachi women’s group in Siaya district and twelve key informants. The key findings of the case study of Yaw Pachi women’s group shows that women can gain access to land in Siaya district mainly through marriage and by association with a male relative, who could be the woman’s father, father in-law, brother or son. Although the law of succession states that women can inherit land from their fathers, most findings revealed that this does not happen in reality. The 2006 Draft National Land Policy that intends to solve all the disparities women face when it comes to equity in land resources has been put on hold following an unsuccessful constitutional review in 2005.While the policy acknowledges that there are customs that discriminate against women, it also seeks to promote customary systems of land tenure. The Draft National Land Policy proposes a pluralist approach to land reform.