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OF LAND AND LEGITIMACY: A TALE OF TWO LAWSUITS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2013

Kelly Askew ,
Faustin Maganga  and
Rie Odgaard
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Abstract

Through a comparative analysis of two recent Tanzanian lawsuits concerning pastoralist–farmer disputes over land, this article argues that the judicial system is being employed as a vehicle for legitimizing dispossession. Wealthy elites who find their efforts to acquire vast tracts of land thwarted by protective mechanisms in the Land Act No. 4 of 1999 and Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999 are turning to the courts to get what they want. Having access to deeper pockets and being able to out-lawyer and out-manoeuvre their poorer and often less-educated opponents enables elites (including the government itself) to avail themselves of the judicial system and acquire land through illegitimate means. Yet our analysis also illustrates that Tanzanian courts at times act independently of political influence and secure property rights for at least some of the dispossessed. An unusual mix of conflicting pressures and key personalities in these two cases coalesced to produce unexpected outcomes in favour of the Maasai defendants, whose land and legitimacy were on the line. Winning, however, came at considerable cost.

Résumé

À partir de l'analyse comparative de deux procès récents liés à des litiges fonciers entre pasteurs et agriculteurs en Tanzanie, cet article soutient que le système judiciaire est utilisé comme un moyen de légitimer la dépossession. Les riches élites qui voient leurs efforts d'acquérir de vastes étendues de terres contrecarrés par les mécanismes de protection prévus par la loi Land Act No. 4 de 1999 et la loi Village Land Act No. 5 de 1999 se tournent vers les tribunaux pour obtenir ce qu'ils veulent. Parce qu'elles ont à leur disposition plus de ressources, d'avocats et de combines que leurs adversaires plus pauvres et souvent moins instruits, les élites (y compris le gouvernement lui-même) peuvent se servir du système judiciaire pour acquérir des terres par des moyens illégitimes. Pourtant, notre analyse montre également qu'il arrive aux tribunaux tanzaniens d'agir indépendamment des influences politiques et de défendre les droits fonciers d'au moins une partie des dépossédés. Dans ces deux procès, un alliage inhabituel de pressions divergentes et de personnalités clés a œuvré, contre toute attente, en faveur des défendeurs maasaï dont les terres et la légitimité étaient en jeu. Cette victoire n'a cependant pas été sans prix.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 83 , Special Issue 1: Land Politics in Africa: Constituting Authority over Territory, Property and Persons , February 2013 , pp. 120 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2013

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References

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