THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING CUSTOMARY LAND INTO FREEHOLD TENURE IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE LAND ACT 2010.

 

First of all, the law allows any person, family, community, or association holding land under the customary type may change that customary land type into the freehold type if they wish to.

  

1)        Every district has a District Land Board which is formed to handle all land-related matters in the district therefore this Land Board is allowed by the Law to handle this type of conversion.  

 

2)        When someone wants to change their land from the customary type to the freehold type, they have to make a formal request to the District Land Board and this request is supposed to be an application. The Application we are talking about is not a handwritten Application, but it is a Form which is supposed to be properly filled in by whoever is applying. 

  

4.        The Form we are talking about here is called the Land Form4 which can be got on the Ministry of Land’s website. There is a fee that is required to be paid for as regards the Form and the amount to be paid can be got on the website of the Ministry of Lands. 

  

5.        This Application, is then supposed to be taken to the District Land Board together with copies of passport photos and National I.Ds.  

  

6.        The application is then discussed by the District Land Board, and after the District Land Board has done its job, it is sent to the Area Land Committee of the area in which the land is located.  

  

7.        The Area Land Committee will make suggestions which concern the application, and it will send a Report and suggestions back to the District Land Board. 

  

8.        When the District Land Board receives the Report and suggestions from the Area Land Committee, it may either accept or reject the suggestions of the Committee. 

  

9.        When the District Land Board accepts the conversion to freehold type, it will ensure that the land in which the application was made is surveyed before accepting the application. 

  

  

10.  When the Land Board finally approves the application for conversion, it may, if it sees a need, make some conditions to be followed on the conversion.   

  

11.  Where any person is not happy with the decision of the Board, that person may appeal (report your dissatisfaction to a higher authority) to the District Land Tribunal. The District Land Tribunal is a body that is set up in every district to handle these disagreements over land. 

  

12.   The District Land Tribunal may then agree, disagree, change a few things, or modify the decision of the Board and make such orders that it is allowed to make by the Land Act.

 

Kindly visit and speak to your district leaders to assist you with even more clarity on how to conduct this process. You will get the guidance you need for this process. 

If things get tough or you want to understand this better, remember that BarefootLaw is always here to guide you along the way so please reach out to us.

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