Effectiveness of the Ward Tribunal in solving Land Disputes in Tanzania: A case of Tarime District Ward Tribunals
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SAUT
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This dissertation aim to examine the effectiveness of the Ward Tribunals in solving land
disputes. Ward Tribunals were first established in 1985 by the Ward Tribunal Act No. 7 of 1985
Cap 206, with the aim to settle disputes in the areas where they were situated in order to secure
peace and harmony. In 2002, after the enactment of the Land Disputes Courts Act, 2002 Cap
216, the Ward Tribunals apart from their former ordinary function became land court in
Tanzania. The establishment of Ward Tribunal was perceived as a solution to the problem of
backlog of cases in ordinary courts.
Being the second land court in the hierarch after the Village Land Council, the Ward Tribunals
are now responsible in dealing with adjudicating upon land matters within the area they are
established. It is now almost 15 years since these Ward Tribunals have been empowered to deal
with land disputes, but still numbers of land disputes have not come down. The study reveals that
land disputes in the ward tribunals are not effectively handled as expected due to legal and
logistical shortcomings.
To recommend for Ward Tribunals to be effective, the members of the tribunal shall be person
with legal knowledge and the government shall allocate fund for running this important body, the
Local Government Authority should impose supervision over the Ward Tribunals, members
should be continuously trained through seminars and workshop so as to equip them with
knowledge, the law regulating WT shall be amendment to suit with the current situation and the
WT and the DLHT be placed under the judiciary for effective supervision and monitoring.
Keywords
Law / Land Disputes