Traditional Authorities in Africa : Resurgence in an Era of Democratisation

Traditional authority is a distinguishing feature in the landscape of contemporary Africa. It remains important in organising the life of the people at the local level despite modern state structures. As a result, a large number of African countries have enhanced or formalised the position of their chiefs. At the same time, however, this resurgence of traditional authority coincides with the wave of democratisation across sub-Saharan Africa, and many question the desirability and legitimacy of tradiotional authority in modern forms of governance

Local Self‐Governance and the State in South Sudan: Studying Gendered Tenure Relations in Times of Uncertainty

With governance increasingly regarded as co-governance, states' capacity to steer, correct, and discipline a wide range of self-governing actors becomes crucial for states' effectiveness, efficiency, and democracy. This article investigates that capacity and the relationship between formal institutions and customary self-governance in areas of limited statehood. In South Sudan, the field of land governance can be regarded as an area of limited statehood. As land relations are closely connected to clan structures and intra-familial relationships, customary norms and institutions enjoy great legitimacy and are an important locus of local land governance and dispute resolution. The South Sudanese government has promulgated legal provisions for equal rights to property and inheritance that clash head-on with customary notions of gender roles in the family and the preservation of family land. By focusing on the case of women’s land rights in South Sudan, combining literature study with data from exploratory fieldwork in two South Sudanese towns, this article aims to reflect on the cohabitation of customary and formal norms and values and the role formal legal and administrative systems, in areas of limited statehood, can and do play in boundary setting for customary self-governance

Traditional authorities in Africa : resurgence in an era of democratisation

Traditional authority is a distinguishing feature in the landscape of contemporary Africa. In many African countries, traditional leadership remains important in organising the life of the people at the local level despite modern state structures. Traditional leaders deliver essential services that African states do not always succeed in delivering; they act as intermediaries between the government and the local population; and they are often a political force to reckon with, wielding enormous electoral and general influence in their own communities due to their control over resources and peopl

In the Land of the Chiefs : customary law, land conflicts, and the role of the state in Peri-Urban Ghana

International policy is currently witnessing a renewed interest in customary tenure systems as well as traditional leadership, through which it aims to enhance the efficiency of local governance and create general access to and secure rights in land. Contrary to these ideas, practice reveals a lack of security of customary tenure in areas with a high competition for land. Mounting evidence displays that customary systems often evolve inequitably and that traditional elites benefit disproportionally from commodification of land. In an effort to understand customary land management by traditional authorities and the role policymakers, lawmakers, judges and civil servants play in this process, this book studies practices of land management in peri-urban Ghana where traditional leadership forms a vibrant part of social life. This book combines local case studies with theories about efficient land management, the resilience of traditional leadership, the negotiability of customary law and the gap between judges' customary law and local practices. Doing so, it offers a unique body of empirical and theoretical knowledge for those interested in customary land management, as well as those interested in how customary law functions both at the local level and at the level of the stateWetensch. publicati

Legalising land rights. Local Practices, State Responses and Tenure Security in Africa, Asia and Latin America

Millions of people live and work on land that they do not legally own in accordance with enforceable state law. The absence of state recognition for local property rights affects people's tenure security and impedes development. Efforts to legalise extra-legal land tenure have traditionally emphasised individual titling and registration. Disappointment with such approaches have led to a search for 'a third way' in land tenure regulation that will reconcile state perspectives with local land rights. This book contributes to the quest for a new pluralistic approach. It combines the description of land tenure regimes in Africa, Latin America and Asia with an analysis of designs, objectives, and actual implementation of specific legalisation programmes

Legalising land rights : local practices, state responses and tenure security in Africa, Asia and Latin America

Miljoenen mensen wonen en werken op land waarop zij geen officiC+le rechten hebben. Hun bezit wordt vaak wel beschermd door niet-statelijke rechten die wortelen in lokale gemeenschappen. Ontwikkelingsdeskundigen en donoren hebben lange tijd zulke onofficiC+le regelingen als een hinderpaal voor ontwikkeling gezien en gewerkt aan invoering van individueel eigendom en complexe registratie, teneinde investeringen in land, huis en bedrijfje aan te moedigen en de productiviteit te verhogen. Deze aanpak werkt niet en daarom wordt nu gezocht naar een nieuwe, pluralistischer aanpak die probeert lokale regelingen te erkennen en waar nodig te verbeteren. In dit boek worden zulke nieuwe benaderingen onderzocht. Experts uit acht landen in AziC+, Latijns-Amerika en Afrika behandelen eerst de landwetgeving en -politiek van hun land en komen dan met een concrete gevalstudie van zo'n nieuwe aanpak. Steeds is de vraag wat zo'n nieuwe statelijke aanpak van landrechten betekent in het dagelijkse leven van kleine boeren (ruraal), van bewoners van onofficiC+le stedelijke wijken (urbaan) en van mensen die onder de rook van de stad wonen en werken (peri-urbaan). Hoe zeker voelen zij zich nu van hun rechten (tenure security), kennen ze de nieuwe regeling en kunnen ze zich er effectief op beroepen (legal empowerment), werken de overheidsinstanties controleerbaar (control of bureaucrats)? Millions of people live and work on land that they do not legally own in accordance with enforceable state law. The absence of state recognition for local property rights affects people's tenure security and impedes development. Efforts to legalise extra-legal land tenure have traditionally emphasised individual titling and registration. Disappointment with such approaches have led to a search for 'a third way' in land tenure regulation that will reconcile state perspectives with local land rights. This book contributes to the quest for a new pluralistic approach. It combines the description of land tenure regimes in Africa, Latin America and Asia with an analysis of designs, objectives, and actual implementation of specific legalisation programmes. This allows for conclusions on the relationship between various kinds of legalisations and tenure security and the challenges to improve the design and implementation of legalisation programmes9789048506699 (eisbn

Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building

The scholarship on legitimacy of dispute settlement institutions has largely ignored community mediation institutions operating in the global south. This article aims to remedy that gap, through a case study of community mediation groups in South Sudan, a state emerging from large-scale conflict where formal courts are only marginally able to fulfill their assigned roles and the rule of law needs to be built almost from the ground-up. The article studies both the empirical legitimacy of the community mediation groups and how they relate to the rule of law building project in the country. Is the empirical legitimacy of formal and informal dispute settlement institutions as a zero-sum relationship, where increasing popularity and use of informal dispute settlement institutions detract from the popularity and empirical legitimacy of formal institutions, inhibiting the maturation of the legal system and a rule of law? Or could informal dispute settlement institutions – with proper linkages to the formal system – strengthen formal institutions, both judicial and administrative? These are highly relevant questions for post-conflict states where building a well-functioning legal system is seen as a precondition for sustainable peace and development

Contesting land and custom in Ghana : state, chief and the citizen

African policy has been showing a growing interest in promoting customary land tenure, based on the idea that the customary represents egalitarian communal arrangements. This approach ignores the fact that customary land relations have been contested throughout history, by various groups that each try to redefine what constitutes custom in a situation of change. In Ghana, land has become increasingly commoditised as a result of the growing value of real estate and the development of new commercial agricultural sectors. This has led to an intensification of attempts by chiefs, earth priests, land users, and governmental actors to redefine land ownership and tenure.The contributions to this essential volume critically examine ideas on customary land tenure in Ghana. They analyse the relations between the customary and statutory tenure and the institutional interactions between the state and traditional authorities in land administration, addressing issues of power, economic interests, transparency, accountability, conflicts and notions of social justice, equity and negotiation. They examine both past and contemporary policy issues, and present a number of case studies with implications for national and international policy-makers.9789048506095 (eisbn)Wetensch. publicati

Power and rights in the community: paralegals as leaders in women's legal empowerment in Tanzania

What can an analysis of power in local communities contribute to debates on women’s legal empowerment and the role of paralegals in Africa? Drawing upon theories of power and rights, and research on legal empowerment in African plural legal systems, this article explores the challenges for paralegals in facilitating women’s access to justice in Tanzania, which gave statutory recognition to paralegals in the Legal Aid Act 2017. Land conflicts represent the single-biggest source of local legal disputes in Tanzania and are often embedded in gendered land tenure relations. This article argues that paralegals can be effective actors in women’s legal empowerment where they are able to work as leaders, negotiating power relations and resisting the forms of violence that women encounter as obstacles to justice. Paralegals’ authority will be realised when their role is situated within community leadership structures, confirming their authority while preserving their independence