Land policy reform in Rwanda: A Catalyst for Land Information Provision

Abstract

One among the instruments forland information provision is policy. Since land administration organizations are not only operating in static environment, but also in dynamic and changing environment, land policy can also change following the new business opportunities and the aftermaths can impact on system provision of land related data and information. This research scrutinizes the effects of new land policy in Rwanda on land related organizational structures and land information provision. Public land administration organizations were highlighted as case study. Questionnaire, in-depth interviews and secondary data source were used for collecting data on policy change, induced effects on organization, and repercussion on land information. Open questions seeking opinions and close questions seeking intensity or proposing change alternatives were used for deriving facts and views. Respondents were composed of decision makers and technical/operational staff in the National Land Centre and in the six sampled district land bureaus. Findings showed that new land policy in Rwanda was resulted in changing the existing
centralized and scattered land administration organizations into coordinated organizations with horizontal and vertical integration. Change in policy and organizational structures have induced change in system provision of land information and triggered land information projects. Nevertheless, all provisions are in transition phase and pending regulations hinder to attain targeted goals. Proposed integration is not yet achieved. Regional land offices are still based at national level, and land registration is spatially centralized. Since district land bureaus are technically under National Land Centre supervision and administratively depending on district authority, new land policy is conflicting with decentralization principle from working procedures perspective. Step in geo-ICT application for data handling was achieved, despite a big gap in technical and skills capabilities. Since new land policy coincided with decentralization policy, we recommend research on parallel implementation of policies with some similar dimensions.

Keywords: Land policy reform, organizational change, geo-ICT, land information provision