Effectiveness of Rural Tribunal Courts in Dispensing Land Rights in Tanzania: Community Opinions from Dodoma and Mbeya Regions

Abstract

Land rights present a debatable theme, which is also contentious to many scholars, policymakers and human rights activists around the world. It might be due to the challenges that many rural people face in using the tribunal courts to get their rights. Thus, the study aimed to assess the effectiveness of rural tribunal courts in dispensing land rights in Mpwapwa and Mbarali districts in Dodoma and Mbeya regions of Tanzania, respectively. The study involved a sample size of 397 respondents. Observation, interview, documentary review, FGDs, and Key Informants were data collection instruments employed in this study. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were computed by IBM-SPSS (ver.20). Results showed that people know tribunals that dispense justice over land. Furthermore, results from the ANOVA test showed there was no statistically significant difference between villages at p=0.493 on knowledge of the tribunals. But it was reported that these organs are not effective in administering and managing land cases. The study revealed that the reason for ineffective administration and management of land cases is due to the shortage of labour force, which causes a backlog of land cases. Moreover, the study found that people did not know the procedure of opening and filing land cases, which cost them to find lawyers. Furthermore, the study observed boundary conflict between farmers and pastoralists against farmers. ANOVA test results further revealed no significant statistical difference between villagers at p=0.141on the emergence of land disputes. But also, it was reported by the study that women were not allowed by their husbands or families to
be involved in tribunals for decision-making. The study concluded that land tribunals are not effective in managing land cases which resulting in endless land disputes. The study recommends that the government should employ more people, increase infrastructure and provide education to people on the procedure of opening land cases in villages.