PARTICULARIDADES E DESAFIOS DOS CONFLITOS DE TERRAS EM AFRICA E EM MOÇAMBIQUE

PARTICULARITIES AND CHALLENGES OF LAND CONFLICTS IN AFRICA AND MOZAMBIQUE

Abstract

Land conflicts in Africa are more often discussed than documented. However, their identification and interpretation are not self-evident, and there are no mechanical rules governing their causes and sequence. The typology of conflicts can help to analyze and develop more precise indicators, but according to criteria (in terms of the nature of the rights, the groups of actors involved) which must be combined rather than opposed. Although it is possible to identify a hierarchy of issues present in conflicts, it is risky to attribute an unequivocal meaning to the "need" for institutional change that they express, as highlighted in the work coordinated by Philipe Lavigne DELVILLE on “African Land Policies”.  Some weaknesses recognized by the recent Land Policy and Implementation Strategy" (PTEI) approved in November 2022, "...such as the still deficient land titling, cadaster and registration system, the still unorganized land use planning system, insufficient harmonization between the framework of land and other natural resources policies and legislation, as well as the incipient and unstable institutional framework on land..."...contribute to the high land conflicts prevalent in Mozambique. The present reflection is composed by three (3) parts, namely the analysis of conceptual and theoretical tools around conflicts, problems of analysis and interpretation (i), the discussion of the challenges of resolving land conflicts in Africa and Mozambique (ii) and finally, the practices and means applicable to land conflict resolution in Mozambique (iii). The main conclusions arise by the study are: the right to land is one of the basic fundamental rights of African citizens in general and Mozambicans in particular, necessary for their socio-cultural and economic fulfilment, the knowledge of the most important characteristics and dynamics of conflicts in Africa and in Mozambique in particular is the key to a correct design of corrective policies and measures for the resolution of land conflicts, the "identification of conflicts is therefore relative to each society and its modes of conflict regulation", it is necessary to pay attention to local institutions and capacities in the resolution of land conflicts., the policy measures outlined in PTEI-2022 to prevent, mitigate and resolve land conflicts in the country require the adoption of an appropriate legal framework and appropriate extra-legal measures, there are means of defending land rights in the national legal system, in private law, administrative law and criminal law, but they are varied and complex, hence the usefulness of systematizing, compiling and understanding them. The major challenge for the effective enjoyment and protection of land rights, according to Professor Enrique Chacon, depends on the socialization of Land law and on an ever more effective protection of land rights.