Access to Land under the Cameroonian Land Tenure System: The Vicissitudes of Illegality

Abstract

Land has been observed in economic and development expressions as a vital resource having intrinsic value that shapes economic and social structures around and which developmental activities revolve. Access to land in Cameroon has increasingly appear to be complicated and costly as years go by, especially in urban centers as well as in rural areas in the country. This has been compounded by the issue of land grabbing perpetrated through administrative conspiracy by some unscrupulous individuals and the administrative officials in charge of land tenure. Due to the improper comprehension of the existing legal frameworks in place on land tenure, many have been lured into illegal land transactions in the country. This study therefore set out to make an assessment of how individuals gain access into land in Cameroon, evaluating it from the different land tenure regimes and equally evaluate the various patterns of land grabbing and illegal land transactions in the country. Methodologically, the study employs the qualitative research methodology. It adopts and analyses primary data in the form of laws, decided cases, unstructured interviews, as well as observations. Secondary data are derived from encyclopedias, text books, peer review journals, and other internet sources. The major findings in this study reveal that accessing land, especially in urban and rural centers, have become expensive as the days go by; meanwhile cost of land acquisition decreases in rural areas. As rural areas become urbanized, the quest for lands in both urban and rural areas have witnessed an exponential increase over the years. This has led to land grabbing, which has taken various perspectives as well as illegal land transactions. It is also observed that civil servants play a major role in land grabbing in various parts of the country through corrupt practices and go away with impunity. The study recommends that the government must adopt strict policies in the implementation of the land laws of the country and also that land disputes of all sorts be managed by the courts exclusively and not the administration.