Local Land Law and Globalization A comparative study of peri-urban areas in Benin, Ghana and Tanzania

by Woodman, Gordon R.; Wanitzek, Ulrike; Sippel, Harald

• ISBN13: 9783825878436
• ISBN10: 3825878430
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-22
• Publisher: Lit Verlag

Summary

This book is a study of the effects of global influences on local activity in relation to the land laws in some urban and peri-urban localities in three African countries. It begins with a theoretical consideration of the concept of globalization and of the way in which it may inform research in the social scientific study of law. The three chapters which form the core of the book are detailed, empirical studies of the effects of globalizing processes on the living land laws observed in selected communities in Benin, Ghana and Tanzania. The last chapter consists of some comparative conclusions. The study is part of the interdisciplinary research program on "Local Action in Africa in the Context of Global Influences" (Humanities Collaborative Research Centre, SFB/FK 560) at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Summary of Contents	vii
Table of Contents	ix
CHAPTER 1 Relating Local Legal Activity to Global Influences: A Theoretical Survey
Ulrike Wanitzek and Gordon R. Woodman
1.1. A Brief Survey of Globalization	1	(23)
1.1.1. What is Globalization?	2	(3)
1.1.2. The Historical Extent of Globalization	5	(5)
1.1.3. Features of Contemporary Globalization	10	(5)
1.1.4. Globalization Effects as Homogenization	15	(5)
1.1.5. Globalization and Space	20	(3)
1.1.6. Consciousness of the Process as a Characteristic Element	23	(1)
1.1.7. Conclusion	24	(1)
1.2. Globalization and Local Studies	24	(12)
1.2.1. Principal Divisions of the Subject	24	(5)
1.2.2. Processes and Effects of Globalization	29	(1)
1.2.3. Focus on the Local	30	(6)
1.3. Globalization and Law	36	(7)
1.3.1. Process and Effect in Globalization in Law	36	(1)
1.3.2. State Law, Living Law and Legal Pluralism	37	(4)
1.3.3. The Reception of Laws	41	(1)
1.3.4. The Focus on Land Law	42	(1)
1.4. Effects in Law: Syncretism, Hybridity, and Similar Concepts	43	(18)
1.4.1. The Concept of Syncretism	43	(5)
1.4.1.1. The History of the Concept in Religious Studies	43	(2)
1.4.1.2. Syncretism of Systems, or Elements of Systems	45	(1)
1.4.1.3. Syncretization	46	(2)
1.4.2. The Concept of Hybridity	48	(8)
1.4.2.1. The Historical Background of the Concept in Anthropology	49	(2)
1.4.2.2. Globalization and Hybridity	51	(3)
1.4.2.3. Hybrid Law	54	(2)
1.4.3. Other Concepts	56	(4)
1.4.3.1. Bricolage	56	(3)
1.4.3.2. Creolization	59	(1)
1.4.4. The Usefulness of the Concepts for this Study	60	(1)
1.5. Conclusions	61	(7)
1.5.1. The Concept of Globalization	61	(1)
1.5.2. The Objects of the Study	62	(1)
1.5.3. The Scope of the Study: Focus on the Local	63	(2)
1.5.4. The Scope of the Study: Focus on Law	65	(1)
1.5.5. Towards Specific Conclusions	66	(2)
Bibliography	68	(13)
CHAPTER 2 Benin: Globalization and Land Tenure Changes in Peri-Urban Areas
Ahonagnon Noël Gbaguidi and Ulrich Spellenberg
2.1. Introduction	81	(4)
2.2. Geographical Setting and Methodological Approach of the Study	85	(9)
2.2.1. The Geographical Setting	85	(6)
2.2.1.1. The State: The Republic of Benin	85	(1)
2.2.1.2. The Great Metropolis and its Peri-Urban Area: Cotonou	86	(2)
2.2.1.2.1. Description	86	(1)
2.2.1.2.2. Justification of the Choice of Cotonou	87	(1)
2.2.1.3. A Peri-Urban Town in Full Expansion: Abomey-Calavi	88	(1)
2.2.1.3.1. Description	88	(1)
2.2.1.3.2. Justification of the Choice of Abomey-Calavi	89	(1)
2.2.1.4. A Peri-Urban Village: Hêvie	89	(2)
2.2.1.4.1. Description	89	(2)
2.2.1.4.2. Justification of the Choice of Hevie	91	(1)
2.2.2. Methodological Approach	91	(3)
2.2.2.1. Documentary Research	91	(1)
2.2.2.2. Field Data Collection	92	(1)
2.2.2.3. Processing of the Data Collected	92	(1)
2.2.2.4. Sociological Difficulties Encountered	92	(2)
2.2.2.4.1. Psycho-Sociological Obstacles	93	(1)
2.2.2.4.2. The Solutions	93	(1)
2.3. Benin's System of Land Tenure	94	(18)
2.3.1. Customary Land Law	94	(9)
2.3.1.1. Recognition of Customary Land Rights	94	(8)
2.3.1.1.1. The Procedure properly so Called for the Recognition (constatation) of Customary Land Rights under the Decree of 8 October, 1925	96	(1)
2.3.1.1.1.1. The Lands Concerned	96	(1)
2.3.1.1.1.2. Legal Value of the Customary Land Certificate	96	(3)
2.3.1.1.2. The "Land Organization" Decrees of 20.5.1955 and 10.7.1956	99	(1)
2.3.1.1.2.1. Recognition of the Validity of Customary Land Rights	99	(1)
2.3.1.1.2.2. Legal Value of the Title Obtained	101	(1)
2.3.1.2. The Improvement of Customary Land Rights by the Decree of 2.5.1906 Establishing a Mode of Written Recognition of Agreements Signed among Natives in French West Africa	102	(1)
2.3.2. Modern Land Law	103	(7)
2.3.2.1. The permis d'habiter and the Concession	103	(1)
2.3.2.2. Registration	104	(6)
2.3.2.2.1. The Application	105	(3)
2.3.2.2.2. The Intangibility of the Title to Land	108	(2)
2.3.3. The Main Land Market Stake Holders	110	(2)
2.3.3.1. Buyers and Sellers	110	(1)
2.3.3.2. Middlemen	111	(1)
2.4. Evaluation of the Potential Impact of Globalization	112	(30)
2.4.1. The Impact of Globalization on Land Rights and Practices in Cotonou	112	(10)
2.4.1.1. The Building Lease Boom	112	(2)
2.4.1.1.1. The Notion of the Building Lease	112	(2)
2.4.1.1.2. Building Lease Litigation	114	(1)
2.4.1.2. A Market Dominated by Informality and Overbidding	114	(5)
2.4.1.2.1. The Lack of a Cadastral Survey	114	(1)
2.4.1.2.2. The Reign of Speculation and Overbidding	115	(4)
2.4.1.3. The Establishment of an Urban Land Registry	119	(1)
2.4.1.4. Land Conflicts and their Resolution	120	(2)
2.4.2. The Impact of Globalization on Land Rights and Practices in Abomey-Calavi	122	(11)
2.4.2.1. Modes of Acquisition and Possession of Real Property	122	(4)
2.4.2.1.1. Inheritance	122	(1)
2.4.2.1.2. Purchasing and Selling Land	123	(1)
2.4.2.1.3. Exchanges and Gifts	124	(1)
2.4.2.1.4. Expropriation	125	(1)
2.4.2.1.5. Possession without Title	125	(1)
2.4.2.2. Abundance of Land Conflicts	126	(4)
2.4.2.2.1. Fraudulent Land Dealings	126	(1)
2.4.2.2.2. Challenging a Previous Sale	127	(1)
2.4.2.2.3. Conflicts Between Joint Owners	128	(1)
2.4.2.2.4. Registration of Another's Land	128	(1)
2.4.2.2.5. Disputes Arising from Operations of Land Parcelling or Consolidation, and Responsibility of the Administration	129	(1)
2.4.2.3. Settlement of Land Conflicts	130	(1)
2.4.2.4. Protection of Landed Property	131	(1)
2.4.2.5. Outlook	132	(1)
2.4.3. Impact of Globalization on Land Rights and Practices in Hevie	133	(20)
2.4.3.1. The Different Modes of Land Acquisition	133	(5)
2.4.3.1.1. Inheritance	133	(1)
2.4.3.1.2. Purchase	134	(1)
2.4.3.1.3. Gift	135	(1)
2.4.3.1.4. The Issue of Acquisition through Usucaption	136	(2)
2.4.3.2. Land Conflicts and Their Settlement	138	(3)
2.4.3.2.1. Increase in Land Conflicts	138	(1)
2.4.3.2.2. Some Elements of Efficient Settlements of Land Conflicts	139	(2)
2.4.3.3. Development of Private Land Ownership and Globalization	141	(1)
2.5. General Synthesis	142	(5)
Bibliography	147	(4)
Legislation	151	(1)
Abbreviations	151	(2)
CHAPTER 3 Ghana: Local Law Making and Land Conversion in Kumasi, Asante
Kasim Kasanga and Gordon R. Woodman
3.1. Introduction: The Location and the Research Questions	153	(7)
3.1.1. The Ghana and Asante Background	153	(5)
3.1.1.1. Geography and Demography	153	(2)
3.1.1.2. History	155	(3)
3.1.2. The Research Project	158	(2)
3.1.2.1. Research Questions	158	(1)
3.1.2.2. Field Research	159	(1)
3.2. The Laws in Asante	160	(9)
3.2.1. The State Legal System of Ghana	160	(1)
3.2.2. Asante Land Law	161	(6)
3.2.3. The Application of English Law and the 'Recognition' of Customary Law	167	(2)
3.3. Globalizing Influences on and Autonomous Trends in Asante Land Law	169	(8)
3.3.1. Globalizing Influences in Asante in the Pre-Colonial Period	169	(1)
3.3.2. Globalizing Influences in Asante in the Colonial Period	170	(1)
3.3.3. Globalizing Influences in Asante in the Post-Colonial Period	171	(5)
3.3.4. The Ghanaian Diaspora	176	(1)
3.3.5. Globalizing Influences and the Definition of Globalization	177	(1)
3.4. Effects of Globalization on Land Law: State Regulation of Land Use under Statute	177	(8)
3.4.1. Kumasi Town Lands	178	(1)
3.4.2. Controls over Stool Lands	179	(6)
3.4.2.1. Administration of Lands Act, 1962 (Act 123)	180	(1)
3.4.2.2. The Constitution, 1992, Art. 267	181	(1)
3.4.2.3. Payments from Stool Lands	182	(1)
3.4.2.4. State Acquisition of Land	183	(1)
3.4.2.5. The Current Provisions of State Law	183	(2)
3.5. Effects of Globalization on Land Law: Practices in the Conversion of Peri-Urban Land	185	(25)
3.5.1. The Past Conversion of Land in an Urban Area: Asokwa	186	(4)
3.5.1.1. The Setting	186	(1)
3.5.1.2. History to 1950	187	(1)
3.5.1.3. Conversion: The Old Site	188	(1)
3.5.1.4. Conversion: Asokwa Extension	189	(1)
3.5.1.5. Effects of the Development	189	(1)
3.5.2. The Contemporary Conversion of Land in a Peri-Urban Area: Deduako	190	(16)
3.5.2.1. The Setting: The Appearance of the Area	191	(1)
3.5.2.2. History of the Area to 1990	191	(1)
3.5.2.3. The Allocation Process	192	(5)
3.5.2.4. The Disposal of Land and the Conversion Process	197	(6)
3.5.2.5. The Nature of the Conversion Process and Its Social and Economic Consequences	203	(3)
3.5.3. The Non-Conversion of Land in a Rural Area: Sarpeh	206	(4)
3.5.3.1. History	206	(1)
3.5.3.2. The Economy of Sarpeh Today	207	(1)
3.5.3.3. The Absence of Land Use Conversion at Sarpeh	208	(1)
3.5.3.4. Consequences	209	(1)
3.6. Conclusions	210	(3)
3.6.1. What Global Influences?	210	(1)
3.6.2. What Have Been the Responses to Global Influences?	211	(1)
3.6.3. What Effects on the Distribution of Material Goods?	211	(2)
Bibliography	213	(4)
CHAPTER 4 Tanzania: Peri-Urban Land Insecurity in Dar es Salaam
Ibrahim Juma, Harald Sippel and Ulrike Wanitzek
4.1. Introduction	217	(3)
4.2. The Official Legal Framework ,	220	(37)
4.2.1. The Sources of Law	220	(4)
4.2.2. The Developments in Land Law	224	(14)
4.2.2.1. Developments before Independence	224	(4)
4.2.2.2. The Independence Period	228	(12)
4.2.2.2.1. The Socialist Era	228	(3)
4.2.2.2.2. The Era of Political and Economic Liberalization	231	(7)
4.2.3. The Local Government Structure	238	(2)
4.2.4. The Major Provisions of the Land Act and Village Land Act of 1999	240	(9)
4.2.4.1. The Underlying Principles of the National Land Policy	240	(1)
4.2.4.2. 'Public Land' and 'Right of Occupancy'	241	(3)
4.2.4.3. Institutional Arrangements and Land Management	244	(2)
4.2.4.4. Management of Village Lands	246	(2)
4.2.4.5. The Settlement of Land Disputes	248	(1)
4.2.5. The Town and Country Planning Ordinance of 1956	249	(7)
4.2.5.1. Regulation of Land Use by the Town and Country Planning Ordinance	249	(2)
4.2.5.2. Philosophical Base of the Current Urban Planning Law	251	(1)
4.2.5.3. Control of Land-Use by the Concept of Planning Areas	252	(3)
4.2.5.4. Planning Consents as Urban Planning Tools	255	(1)
4.2.6. The Highways Ordinance of 1932	256	(1)
4.3. Local Land Law and Globalization	257	(57)
4.3.1. The Research Area	257	(24)
4.3.1.1. The Wider Area of Research: Dar es Salaam	257	(7)
4.3.1.2. The Selected Areas of Research	264	(17)
4.3.1.2.1. Magomeni	265	(1)
4.3.1.2.1.1. The Ward History	265	(1)
4.3.1.2.1.2. Location, Environment and Housing	267	(1)
4.3.1.2.1.3. Ward Administration	268	(1)
4.3.1.2.1.4. Livelihoods, Economic Activities and Infrastructure	268	(2)
4.3.1.2.2. Mbezi-Luisi	270	(1)
4.3.1.2.2.1. The Village History	270	(1)
4.3.1.2.2.2. Location, Environment and Housing	271	(1)
4.3.1.2.2.3. Village Administration	271	(1)
4.3.1.2.2.4. Livelihoods, Economic Activities and Infrastructure	272	(2)
4.3.1.2.3. Mwanamsekwa	274	(1)
4.3.1.2.3.1. The Village History	274	(1)
4.3.1.2.3.2. Location, Environment and Housing	274	(1)
4.3.1.2.3.3. Village Administration	275	(1)
4.3.1.2.3.4. Livelihoods, Economic Activities and Infrastructure	276	(2)
4.3.1.2.4. Conclusions	278	(3)
4.3.2. Land Availability, Access to Land and Emerging Land Markets	281	(7)
4.3.2.1. Magomeni	281	(1)
4.3.2.2. Mbezi-Luisi	281	(1)
4.3.2.3. Mwanamsekwa	282	(3)
4.3.2.4. Conclusions	285	(3)
4.3.3. Acquisition and Transfer of Rights in Land	288	(6)
4.3.3.1. Magomeni	288	(1)
4.3.3.2. Mbezi-Luisi	289	(2)
4.3.3.3. Mwanamsekwa	291	(3)
4.3.3.4. Conclusions	294	(1)
4.3.4. Peri-Urban Land Insecurity	294	(11)
4.3.4.1. Boundaries	294	(1)
4.3.4.2. The Land Acts and Village Land Act of 1999	295	(1)
4.3.4.3. The Town and Country Planning Ordinance of 1956	296	(5)
4.3.4.4. The Highways Ordinance of 1932	301	(3)
4.3.4.5. Conclusions	304	(1)
4.3.5. The Settlement of Land Disputes	305	(29)
4.3.5.1. Magomeni	305	(1)
4.3.5.2. Mbezi-Luisi	305	(7)
4.3.5.2.1. Challenging the Sale of Land through Trespass Actions	306	(1)
4.3.5.2.2. 'Cosmopolitan' Composition of Population	307	(1)
4.3.5.2.3. The Importance of Land for Trade and Commerce	307	(1)
4.3.5.2.4. Seeking Protection of Village Land from Encroachment	307	(1)
4.3.5.2.5. Land Inheritance Disputes	308	(2)
4.3.5.2.6. Multiplicity of Land Dispute Resolution Mechanisms	310	(2)
4.3.5.3. Mwanamsekwa	312	(1)
4.3.5.4. Conclusions	313	(1)
4.4. Final Conclusions	314	(5)
Bibliography	319	(11)
Legislation	330	(3)
CHAPTER 5 Stories of Local Vitality: Comparative Conclusions on the Research Findings
Ahonagnon Noël Gbaguidi, Harald Sippel and Gordon Woodman
5.1. Objectives	333	(1)
5.2. The Local Laws	334	(5)
5.2.1. State Legislation	334	(1)
5.2.2. Received Law	335	(1)
5.2.3. Customary Law and Religious Law	335	(1)
5.2.4. Living Law	336	(1)
5.2.5. Composition of the Land Laws	337	(2)
5.3. Global Influences on the Local Land Laws	339	(4)
5.3.1. External Influences on the National Societies and Their Laws	339	(2)
5.3.2. Influences on Local Land Laws	341	(1)
5.3.3. The Policy Demands of the Globalizing Actors	342	(1)
5.4. Local Effects of Global Influences: State Activities	343	(3)
5.4.1. Land Law Reform	343	(3)
5.4.2. The Introduction and Extension of Registration Schemes	346	(1)
5.5. Incal Effects of Global Influences: People's Activities	346	(5)
5.5.1. The Migrant Populations	346	(1)
5.5.2. Popular Responses	347	(1)
5.5.3. Local Attitudes to State Responses	348	(1)
5.5.4. Traditional Authorities' Responses	349	(1)
5.5.5. The Development of Living Land Law in Response	350	(1)
5.6 Legal Syncretism or Legal Hybridity	351	(2)
5.6.1. Syncretism or Hybridity in the State Laws	352	(1)
5.6.2. Syncretism or Hybridity in the Living Laws	353	(1)
5.7. Concluding Remarks: Understanding Globalization	353	(4)
Maps	357	(6)
About the Authors	363	(2)
Index	365