National Land Commission Act (No. 19 of 2022).

This Act, consisting of 91 articles, divided into thirteen Parts, in order to secure effective and holistic land administration, concerns: the establishment of the National Land Commission, the District Land Commission and other Land administrative bodies. The Act defines communal land as any land subject to customary law, which includes wetlands, forests, grazing lands, and market areas. Other definitions concern: State Land; family land; private land. The Act specifies the following rights of use related to land: right of access to use natural resources located on land; right to use the land for pasture or agriculture; right to use trees or collect firewood in the forest; right to travel across the land or water; the right to drive cattle across an area to obtain water from a river. Matters covered by this Act include: functions of the National Land Commission; creation of the Board of Directors; role of the Minister and the Ministry, including: ensure the devolution of land administration and management functions to the land administrative bodies, undertake policy making and coordination on land tenure administration, mobilise financial resources for the sector, facilitate the implementation of the land policy reform programme; duties of the Secretariat; departments of the Commission and related functions, including: maintain an inventory of public and governmental land and a depository of all registers, represent the Commission in legal or administrative proceedings, develop guidelines for undertaking cadastral mapping throughout the country, lead public education and sensitisation programmes.
Concerning the District Land Commission, the Act provides for its composition, its functions including: provide technical support to Chiefdom and other land committees in the management and administration of customary land in the respective districts, set up and maintain a comprehensive register of government and public lands in the district. The Chiefdom land Committee provides for the enforcement of rules for the sustainable use of natural resources, such as forests, grazing lands, rivers and swamps within the chiefdom, the management of communal chiefdom lands, adjudication of land title disputes at chiefdom level through the Land Adjudication Tribunal, management of all land tax revenues. The Act provides for creation and functions of Town or Village land Committee, definition of community rules concerning the exploitation of natural resources and the protection of the environment. Other matters covered by the Act include: the National Land Registry; registration of land subject to customary law and related requirements including planting of trees to delineate the land; land tenure rights; management of communal lands and natural resources; land disputes and related tribunal.