Would a Registry Map Hang Comfortably in a Round, Mud Hut?

Abstract

This paper presents findings of a research project which investigated the granting of title in Communal Areas in Zimbabwe. The research took place between May and June 1996, and, very broadly, it considered the problematic interaction between customary African land tenure, and modem land management systems. The land issue is probably the most thorny with which the present Government of Zimbabwe has had to grapple in the sixteen post-independence years. This paper recognises the dilemmas and compromises inherent in granting individual titles in communal lands, it summarizes and comments on recommendations made by the Land Tenure Commission, and it attempts to clarify options for issuing a form of title in Communal Lands.