Assessment On Compensation And Resettlement Issues In Land Expropriation For Urban Redevelopment Programs In Rwanda

Land expropriation is considered as a major tool used by governments to assemble land for various activities aiming at public interest. In Rwanda, this exercise has been characterised by complaints and objections of the amount of compensation payable. This paper examines how the determination of compensation during land expropriation is done and how the expropriated people are resettled, considering two expropriation projects in Kigali city, Rwanda. The data was collected from real property valuers, District land officers, Kigali city council and the project-affected persons. It was found out that valuation for compensation is not consistent with the provisions of the Expropriation law. Whereas the Expropriation law requires that valuation be carried out based on the “market value”, property values published by Kigali City Land Commission and the Ministry of Natural Resources are being used in valuation practice. This practice not only contradicts the law but also distorts the real estate market. It was also found out that there are no resettlement action plans for expropriated persons. There is a substantial need to adopt conventional approaches to valuation based on prevailing land market values. Taking advantage of the current Land Administration Information System in Rwanda, creation of land sales databank would serve as a basic source of comparable sales for comparison approach to valuation. There is also a need for a resettlement policy in Rwanda to guide urban development without undermining efforts made by the government in formalizing urban settlements. This work bridges the gap in research about land expropriation and compensation in Rwanda. Most research works have indicated complaints about unfair compensation but have not assessed the valuation procedures and techniques used in practice.