“In the Public Interest”: Forced Evictions, Land Rights and Human Development in Africa

Journal of African Law

Volumn 51, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 173-214

  Ocheje, Paul D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR   (Canada)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84960260304     PISSN: 00218553     EISSN: 14643731     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0021855306000209     Document Type: Article

References (246)

1. See, eg, S Urquhart “Globalized eviction” (29 March 2006) Guerrilla News Network, available at:
2. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Forced Evictions - Toward Solutions? (2005, Advisory Group on Forced Evictions).
3. and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Fact Sheet No 25, Forced Evictions and Human Rights (1996, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) at 1–6.
4. UN-HABITAT Forced Evictions, above at note 1.
5. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division Progress towards Millennium Development Goals, 1990–2005 (2006, United Nations) at 12.
6. The UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951, 189 UNTS 150 (entered i force 22 April 1954) defines a refugee as someone who, by reason of a well-founded f of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particu social group or political opinion, is outside his or her country of nationality, and unable, or by reason of that fear unwilling, to avail him/herself of the protection of her country; or someone who, not having a country of nationality, is outside country of his/her habitual residence, and is unable, or by reason of that f unwilling, to return to that country.
7. A slum has been defined as “a contiguous settlement where the inhabitants characterized as having inadequate housing and basic services”. A slum is often recognized and addressed by public authorities as an integral or equal part of the c Thus, the conditions that characterize slums include insecure residential stat inadequate access to safe water, inadequate access to sanitation and other inf structure, poor structural quality of housing, and overcrowding. See, eg, UN-HABIT Guide to Monitoring Target 11: Improving the Lives of 100 Million Slum Dwellers (2003, HABITAT) at 4–8.
8. Id at 5.
9. The UN Human Development Report 2006 (2006, United Nations Development Program warns that human development in sub-Saharan Africa has stagnated while progress other parts of the world has accelerated, widening the gap between the world's rich and poorest countries. The report shows that, after a setback in human development the first half of the 1990s, Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth Independent States recovered strongly, and progress since 1990 in East and South A continues to accelerate. But sub-Saharan Africa shows no sign of improving.
10. See also Hardoy and D Satterthwaite Squatter Citizen: Life in the Urban Third World (1989, Earthscan)
11. UN-HABITAT State of the World's Cities: Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa (Urbanization Metropolitanization) (2004, United Nations Human Settlement Programme).
12. See, eg, Amnesty International “The African Commission: Amnesty International's oral statement on forced evictions” (AI Index: AFR 01/013/2006 (public) 15 November 2006): “The practice of forced evictions has reached epidemic proportions in Africa, with more than three million Africans reportedly forcibly evicted from their homes since 2000. Amnesty International believes forced evictions constitute one of the most widespread and unrecognized human rights violations in Africa”
13. See, eg, Fact Sheet No 25, above at note 2 at 9.
14. For example, thousands of residents of Agbogbloshie/Old Fadama settlement in Accra, Ghana, were served with eviction notices by the Accra Metropolitan Authority in May 2002 because the land was needed “to make way for the Korle Lagoon Environmental Restoration Project (KLERP)”: Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 6.
15. For example, in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the host, China, has evicted over 400,000 in Beijing: Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 2.
16. In carrying out operation Murambatsvina [clear the filth], a military-style operation in which 700,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes and/or their sources of income, the government of Zimbabwe claimed that the eviction was necessary “to eradicate illegal, unhealthy homes and settlements and to stop illegal trading”: Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 4.
17. For example, the City of Johannesburg evicts people from “bad” buildings regularly for health and safety concerns, and as part of an overall Inner City Regeneration Strategy which aims to transform Johannesburg into “a world class city”. It has been estimated that 25,000 people might be affected by these evictions: see Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 7.
18. See, eg, Amnesty International, above at note 9.
19. See Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 (Focus on Africa).
20. See also COHRE Any Room for the Poor? Forced Evictions in Johannesburg, South Africa: Draft for Discussion (17 February 2005).
21. See Amnesty International “African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights: oral statement on forced evictions in Africa” (11 May 2006) 115 News Service.
22. News Service.
23. See also Evictions Monitor, above at note 11.
24. Evictions Monitor,.
25. Evictions Monitor,.
26. Evictions Monitor,.
27. Evictions Monitor,.
28. See Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 3
29. see also “Briefing on homelessness and landlessness” (briefing presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights by Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing: Habitat International Coalition 20 May 2005), available at: .
30. See, eg, Amnesty International Canada “Nigeria: forced evictions in Lagos make thousands homeless” (24 January 2006) Resource Centre News
31. Alliance Internationale des Habitants “Call to international solidarity action against forced evictions in Nigeria” (10 January 2006), available at: .
32. Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 7.
33. See, eg, International Crisis Group “Zimbabwe: statement on forced evictions”, available at: .
34. See, eg, “‘Merciless’ evictions leave many homeless in Kenya” (6 July 2005) Mail and Guardian Online, available at: .
35. See, eg, “Angola slammed over forced evictions” afrolNews, available at:
36. S. Bengali “Rights group assail forced evictions in Nigeria” (13 February 2006) Knight Ridder Newspapers, available at:
37. B. Akuaku “‘Freeze future evictions’- Amnesty International tells government” (20 April 2006) Ghanaian Chronicle
38. L. Barasa “Regulate evictions, say lobbies” (4 April 2006) The Nation
39. J. Pearce “Living in fear after Harare contd evictions” (19 August 2005) BBC News.
40. See also the catalogue of inhuman treatment during the evictions in Lagos, Nigeria, chronicled by Amnesty International “Making the destitute homeless”, above at note 11. In April 2006, some evictees from the Digya National Park in Ghana were reportedly forced onto an overloaded ferry, which capsized, leaving many dead and some unaccounted for: see Amnesty International, above at note 9.
41. For example, prior to operation Murambatsvina, the government of Zimbabwe had acquiesced in, and in some cases encouraged, the establishment of the so-called “illegal” settlements, in the face of increasing housing shortages in the urban and peri-urban areas. These shortages had arisen as a result of government's inability to meet an annual target of 162,000 units, from 1985. By 2000, the government had acknowledged a cumulative backlog of over 1 million units. Consequently, a number of these housing projects in Harare, which the government had labelled “illegal” during the operation, had, in fact, been recognized and approved by the government: see Human Rights Monthly (July 2005) at 3–4, available at:.
42. Id at 4: the residents of Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, were evicted in disregard of a High Court Order issued in September 2004 suspending any evictions until alternative accommodation was provided. Similarly, the Nigerian government disregarded a December 2004 High Court Order stopping the eviction of residents from government flats in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, Lagos.
43. The offer to purchase these flats by the residents was rejected by the government: see Amnesty International, above at note 11 at 8. The rejection of an offer to develop the area through collective effort by the residents of Agbogbloshie in Ghana is eerily similar. There, the government maintained clinically “[T]he place is not conducive for (sic) human settlement, and any move to give it a facelift would be stopped”: see Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 6.
44. Such callous disregard for the welfare of their own citizens contrasts with the abject solicitousness of these same governments towards foreign investors: see, eg, the Ghanaian government's assurances against expropriation to foreign investors at: .
45. See, eg, Fact Sheet No 25, above at note 2 at 8: “Eviction operations tend to be most prevalent in countries or parts of cities with the worst housing conditions. Wealthier classes virtually never face forced eviction, and are always spared mass eviction”.
46. See, eg, “Crime of poverty” in Murambatsvina Part II (2005, The Solidarity Peace Trust, Bulawayo), available at:
47. International contd Alliance of Inhabitants “UN HABITAT Advisory Group on forced evictions information on important cases”, available at: .
48. See also Amnesty International “Making the destitute homeless”, above at note 11 at 3: “In Lagos, land is increasingly sought after by property developers … [T]he destitute of Lagos, however, are paying a high price for the fact that they may be living on land that has increased in value: seeing their homes razed to the ground by government bulldozers. Communities are frequently made homeless without prior consultation and without rehabilitation and compensation. By arbitrarily removing the roofs over its citizens' heads, often using violence such as beating, kicking and other ill-treatment, the Nigerian government is making already marginalized and impoverished communities even more destitute” [emphasis supplied].
49. See, eg, S Wanjala “Land and resource tenure, policies and laws: a perspective from East Africa” (paper presented at the Pan-African Programme on Land and Resource Rights (PAPLRR) Third Workshop, Nairobi, 18–20 November 2002
50. P. McAuslan Bringing the Law Back In: Essays in Land, Law and Development (2003, Ashgate) at 86.
51. F. Lugard The Dual Mandate in Tropical Africa (reprint, 1965, Frank Cass) at 148–150.
52. See, eg, H Werlin Governing an African City: A Case Study of Nairobi (1974, Holmes and Meier) at 53
53. D. McMaster “The colonial district town in Uganda” in EP Beckinsale and JM Houston (eds) Urbanisation and Its Problems (1973, Blackwell) at 24.
54. McAuslan Bringing the Law Back In, above at note 37 at 96.
55. See, eg, P Hall et al The Containment of Urban England, Vol.2: The Planning System: Objectives, Operations, Impacts (1973, George Allen & Unwin) at 68–71.
56. Id at 71.
57. McAuslan Bringing the Law Back In, above at note 37 at 99.
58. See, eg, AJ Njoh “The experience and legacy of French colonial urban planning in Sub-Saharan Africa” (2004) 19 Planning Perspectives 435–454.
59. See, eg, Z Celik Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule (1997, University of California Press).
60. See, eg, AJ Njoh “The political economy of urban land reforms in a post-colonial state” (1998) 22 International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 408.
61. See, eg, O Goerg “Housing policies in colonial Algiers” (1999) 40 Review, The Journal of African History 334.
62. Njoh “French colonial urban planning”, above at note 44 at 448.
63. Id at 439.
64. Goerg “Housing policies in colonial Algiers”, above at note 47 at 335.
65. C. Young The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective (1994, Yale University Press) at 283.
66. See J Gugler and WG Flanagan Urbanization and Social Change in West Africa (1978, Cambridge University Press).
67. See also A Kajumulo Tibaijuka, executive director, UN-HABITAT, The United Nations Human Settlements Programme “Urban plus rural” (address to the Sokoine University of Agriculture 2003 Convocation, Morogoro, Tanzania, 27 November 2003; on file with author).
68. See M Mamdani Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (1996, Princeton University Press)
69. C. Ake Democracy and Development in Africa (1996, The Brookings Institution).
70. See, eg, M Lipton Why Poor People Stay Poor: A Study of Urban Bias in World Development (1977, Harvard University Press)
71. D. Olatunbosun Nigeria's Neglected Rural Majority (1975, Oxford University Press)
72. G. Breeze Urbanization in Newly Developing Nations (1966, Prentice-Hall).
73. This is sometimes referred to as a trend in the “new ruralism”: see, eg, WN Ellis and O Fanning “The new ruralism” in I Tinker and M Buvinic (eds) The Many Facets of Human Settlement: Science and Society (1977, Pergamon Press) 235.
74. See, eg, V Azarya and N Chazan “Disengagement from the state in Africa: reflections on the experience of Ghana and Guinea” (1987) 1 Comparative Studies in Society and History 29
75. T. Callaghy “The state and the development of capitalism in Africa: some theoretical and historical reflections” in D Rothchild and N Chazan (eds) The Precarious Balance: State and Society in Africa (1988, Westview Press)
76. A.R. Mustafa “Structural adjustment and multiple modes of social livelihood in Nigeria” in P Gibbon et al (eds) Authoritarianism, Democracy and Adjustment: The Politics of Economic Reform in Africa (1992, The Scandinavian contd Institute of African Studies) 189.
77. See also C Rakodi “The household strategies of the urban poor: coping with poverty and recession in Gweru, Zimbabwe” (1995) 19/4 HABITAT INTL 447.
78. Contrary to the official thinking that informs forced evictions, people do not choose informality over formality lightly; informality entails enormous costs to informals: see H de Soto The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World (1989, Harper & Row) 151. Although de Soto's findings relate specifically to Peru, they are also generally true of many African countries.
79. See SO Asiama “Land for housing the urban poor in Africa: some policy options” in P Amis and P Lloyd (eds) Housing Africa's Urban Poor (1990, Manchester University Press) 239
80. Abdoulieh Janneh, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, was reported recently as urging African governments to “recognize the land rights of slum dwellers and squatters, and provide low cost methods for acquiring, documenting and managing these rights”: “Ensuring land rights will avert conflicts in Africa” (30 March 2006) AngolaPress.
81. See CV Izeogu “Public policy and affordable housing for the urban poor in Nigeria” (1993) 17/2 HABITAT INTL 21.
82. See KH Wekwete “Planning law in Sub-Saharan Africa - a focus on the experiences in southern and eastern Africa” (1995) 19/1 HABITAT INTL 13.
83. See, eg, DCI Okpala “Housing production systems and technologies in developing countries: a review of experiences and possible future trends/prospects” (1992) 16/3 HABITAT INTL 9.
84. This is, of course, a pervasive problem in developing countries: see OB Server “Corruption: a major problem for urban management - some evidence from Indonesia” (1996) 20/1 HABITAT INTL 23.
85. See, eg, U Ikejiofor “The god that failed: a critique of public housing in Nigeria, 1975–1995” (1999) 23/2 HABITAT INTL 177.
86. See, eg, DCI Okpala “Public and quasi-public sponsored housing in Nigeria: an appraisal” (1978) XVII/4 Journal of Administration Overseas 271.
87. See, eg, Social Watch “Ghana's housing sector: who cares for the poor?”, an article by ML Otu of Public Agenda, Accra, available at: (last accessed 28 January 2007).
88. See H de Soto The Mystery of Capital (2000, Basic Books) at 187–197. The author seeks to explode the misconception that something as fundamental as people's conventions on how they can hold their assets, both legal and extralegal, can be changed without high-level political leadership.
89. An increasing amount of evidence indicates that political liberalization in Africa is rendered problematic by the influence of powerful actors who attempt to maintain patrimonial control by developing counter-strategies to change. In particular, when faced with declining patronage resources, these actors turn to alternative sources, often amplifying corruption and violence in the process. A particularly insightful article, in this connection, is JM Klopp “Pilfering the public: the problem of land grabbing in contemporary Kenya” (2000) 47/1 Africa Today 7.
90. See also JF Bayart The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly (1993, Longman Press)
91. Mamdani Citizen and Subject, above at 53
92. R. Joseph Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria (1987, Cambridge University Press).
93. An address by Sekesai Makavara (20 May 2005) Zimbabwe National Television.
94. Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 6.
95. See Human Rights Watch “Clear the filth: mass evictions and demolitions in Zimbabwe” (11 September 2005) Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper at 14.
96. See also Human Rights Watch (December 2005) 17/16A Zimbabwe: Evicted and Forsaken 10.
97. See the report of the UN Special Envoy in the aftermath of operation Murambatsvina: F Nhambura “Garikai: solution to housing woes” (27 July 2005) The Herald, available at: .
98. See “Zimbabwe government minister orders probe into allocation of clean-up houses” (7 Febuary 2006) ZimOnline, available at: .
99. Allegations of corruption and cronyism in connection with the Zimbabwean government's land redistribution project are rife, see, eg, M Saruchera “‘Hondo Yeminda’ in Zimbabwe - the Svosve peasantry land rights assertion, a struggle sacrificed?” (paper presented at the Pan-African Programme on Land and Resource Rights (PAPLRR) Third Workshop, Nairobi, 18–20 November 2002; on file with author) at 18–20.
100. See Society for Threatened Peoples “Campaign against forced evictions in the informal settlements in Nairobi” (26 April 2004), available at: .
101. Id at 1.
102. Id at 2.
103. The Ogieks of the Mau Forest, for example, have occupied the forest since 1800. Eviction Monitor reports that “After Kenyan independence in 1964, approximately 50,000 families, mostly of Ogiek descent, bought titles to land in Narok South. A December 2004 report found that these titles had been illegally sold by corrupt officials of the Moi regime, and the Minister of Lands and Housing announced that the holders should consider their titles cancelled. Forced evictions have continued despite two High Court injunctions to stop them”: Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 9–10.
104. In Nigeria's capital of Abuja, the city's masterplan was ignored for years by corrupt officials who allowed illegal neighbourhoods to blossom. Certificates of Occupancy were openly hawked on the streets by these officials and their agents. A new minister was appointed for the capital in 2003, and he declared his intention to implement the masterplan. In the past two years, many houses, shops, kiosks and stalls have been destroyed, and thousands have been forced onto the streets for contravening the masterplan. While some have cheered the new minister on, others have condemned a declaration that has effectively rendered much of the daily life of millions of people illegal: see L Polgreen “In a dream city, a nightmare for the common man” (13 December 2006) International Herald Tribune, available at: .
105. See Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 19.
106. See also Human Rights Monthly, above at note 31 at 10.
107. In Nigeria's Rainbow Town, Port Harcourt, where 1.2 million people were forcibly evicted by the Rivers State government in 2000, the settlement began as a housing estate for soldiers during the civil war of 1967–70. “Soon a market developed outside these barracks and informal traders began moving into the area. Soldiers were allowed to build houses wherever they wanted and to rent them out. The tenants paid rent to these landlords and several taxes to the State Government.” - Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 4.
108. See “Evictions will go on to save forests, says top official” (5 April 2006) The Nation (Nairobi). The top official was reported to have said that “[I]f the land was dished out without degazettement, then it lawfully remains the property of the government, and we shall reclaim it”. The land in question is part of one of Kenya's major forests.
109. See, eg, WM Adams “Rural protest, land policy and the planning process on the Bakalori Project, Nigeria” (1988) 58/3 Africa 315.
110. The “pygmies” of the Congo face serious threats to their livelihoods, land and environment under the World Bank's plans for a massive increase in industrial logging contd in the Congo. Some 60 million hectares of tropical forest are projected to be logged. The pygmies, some of whom have already been evicted, are among an estimated 35 million of the Congo's 50 million people who would be potentially impacted by the massive destruction of the rain forest, which the project entails. Also the pygmies of Cameroon are threatened by the World bank sponsored Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, which is projected to pass through the rain forest: see . In Kenya, the eviction of the Ogiek from the East Mau Forest, justified by government on environmental grounds, began to look more like a capitulation to the wishes of logging companies: see, eg, “Kenyan government evicts traditional landholders while promoting logging” (15 January 2001) Afrol News, available at: .
111. The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Miloon Kothari, was appointed in April 2000 to study the right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living. He has identified the growing privatization of property and the associated land speculation as one of the reasons driving homelessness. He has also noted another disturbing trend, a growing inequality in global land ownership, with figures indicating that a mere 2.5% of landowners control three-quarters of all private land: see UN Press Centre “Growing privatization of property among reasons driving homelessness, UN expert says” (19 May 2005), available at: .
112. See also “Homelessness increasing all over the world”, an interview with Mr Kothari, (13 April 2005) Washington Times. In “Briefing on homelessness and land-lessness”, above at note 25, the special rapporteur identified other driving forces to be a lack of affordable housing options, unplanned and involuntary migration, and large-scale development projects, such as dams.He also noted a growing tendency to criminalize the homeless and the landless, as well as a dearth of legal processes enabling communities to own or inhabit land.
113. See also K Kasanga “The development of the land market in peri-urban Kumasi, Ghana” in Poverty and Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Land Tenure (1999, Sunningdale Park Conference Centre).
114. C. Toulmin “The new tragedy of the commons” (14 March 2005) New Statesman, UK.
115. See also LA Wily “The commons and customary law in modern times: rethinking the orthodoxies” (paper presented at the UNDP-International Land Coalition Workshop titled Land Rights for African Development: From Knowledge to Action, Nairobi, 31 October - 3 November 2005), available at: : “Even after a century of attrition and state appropriation, common properties remain a substantial resource in agrarian states, amounting to over 30 per cent of the land area in Africa. Quite aside from their contributing role to livelihood, the commons possess an extraordinary real estate and rental value and their products massive, and sustainable, extractive income. Governments, not communities, have so far reaped the benefits. This is because even after a decade of land reforms, common property in most countries still bears the status of un-owned or public land, falling to governmental jurisdiction and de facto tenure. Involuntary loss of commons continues up to the present, for example in Sudan, where millions of hectares of customary property are still in the pipeline for reallocation to outsiders as commercial farms. These losses directly affect the poor. Even the poorest members of rural communities, those with no or little farmland share the customary ownership of common properties with other, better-off members of the community. This may be their only property.”
116. See “Fast track land reform in Zimbabwe” (March 2002) 14/1 Human Rights Watch 18.
117. See, eg, SM Borras “Questioning market-led agrarian reform: experiences from Brazil, Colombia and South Africa” (2003) 3/3 Journal of Agrarian Change 12.
118. Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 7–8
119. S. Tilley “Why do the landless remain landless?” (10 November 2005) Land Research Action Network, available at:
120. M. Wegerif, B Russell and I Grundling “Still searching for security. The reality of farm dweller evictions in South Africa” (2005, Social Surveys and Nkuzi Development Association), available at:
121. R. Hall “A political economy of land reform in South Africa” (2004) 31/100 Review of African Political Economy 213.
122. See J Adoko Land Rights: Where We Are and Where We Need to Go (2005, Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU)/The Berkeley Trust)
123. J. Adoko and S Levine Land Market for Poverty Eradication? A Case Study of the Impact of Uganda's Land Act on Policy Hopes for Development and Poverty Eradication (2005, LEMU).
124. See M Adams “A review of DFID's engagement with land reform in Malawi”, available at: .
125. See, eg, S Mukayawa, M Munalula and F Munalula (eds) Research on the Impact of the Land Act of 1995 on the Livelihoods of the Poor and Peasants in Zambia (2003, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace)
126. R. Palmer Land Tenure Insecurity on the Zambia Copperbelt, 1998: Anyone Going Back to the Land? (2001, Oxfam)
127. M. Adams Land Tenure Policy and Practice in Zambia: Issues Relating to the Development of the Agricultural Sector (2003, Makoro Consulting)
128. T. Brown “Contestation, confusion and corruption: market-based land reform in Zambia” in S Evers, M Spierenburg and H Wels (eds) Competing Jurisdictions: Settling Land Claims in Africa (2005, Brill Academic Publishers) 79.
129. See, eg, M Adams and J Howell “Redistributive land reforms in Southern Africa” (January 2001) 64 Natural Resource Perspectives
130. R. Sherbourne “A rich man's hobby” (2003) Institute for Public Policy Research Opinion No.11, available at:
131. W. Werner “Land reform and poverty alleviation: experiences from Namibia” (2001) Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit, available at: .
132. See, eg, “Reassessing Kenya's land reform” (November 2000) 40 The Point (Bulletin of the Institute of Economic Affairs) at 5
133. Redistribution from Above: The Politics of Land Rights and Squatting in Coastal Kenya (2001, Nordic Africa Institute).
134. See QC Selebalo “Land reform and poverty alleviation: Lesotho's experiences during the last two decades” (2001), available at: .
135. See J Clover “Land reform in Angola: establishing the ground rules” in C Huggins and J Clover (eds) From the Ground Up: Land Rights, Conflict and Peace in Sub-Saharan Africa (2005, ACTS and ISS) 347.
136. See M Roth “Integrating land issues and land policy with poverty reduction and rural development in southern Africa” (2002), available at: .
137. See also P Francis “‘For the use and common benefit of all Nigerians’: consequences of the 1978 land nationalization” (1984) 54/3 Africa 5
138. D.C. Williams “Measuring the impact of land reform in Nigeria” (1992) 30/4 The Journal of Modern African Studies 587
139. A.O. Chimhowu “Tinkering on the fringes? Redistributive land reforms and chronic poverty in southern Africa” (2002) Chronic Poverty Reduction Centre, UK (on file with author)
140. T. Ngaido “Reforming land rights in Africa” (2020 Africa Conference Brief 15, IFPRI, 2002).
141. See also GW Kanyeihamba and JPWB McAuslan Urban Legal Problems in Eastern Africa (1978, The Scandinavian Institute for African Studies and the International Centre for Law in Development).
142. See, eg, K Denninger “Causes and consequences of civil strife: micro-level evidence from Uganda” (2003) World Bank working paper
143. I. Elbadawi and N Sambanis “Why are there so many civil wars in Africa?: Understanding and preventing violent conflict” (2000) 9/ 21 Journal of African Economies 21.
144. The consequences of the demise of Zimbabwean commercial farms, for example, go beyond the loss of employment for an estimated 2 million people, ie one-fifth of the population; it spurs food crises among several of its neighbours, most notably Malawi: see LM Sachikonye “The situation of commercial farm workers after land reform in Zimbabwe” (2003) Report for the Farm Community Trust, CIIR, London.
145. See, eg, N Pons-Vignon and H.-B.S. Lecomte “Land, violent conflict and development” (2004) Working Paper No 233, OECD Development Centre
146. T. Addison et al “On the economic motivation for conflict in Africa” (paper prepared for the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, Paris, June 2000; on file with author)
147. land-related tensions, although not the cause, were aggravating factors in the Rwandan genocide: see A Storey “Economics and ethnic conflict: structural adjustment in Rwanda” (1999) 17/1 Development Policy Review 43
148. C. Andre and JP Platteau “Land relations under unendurable stress: Rwanda caught in the Malthusian Trap” (1998) 34/ 11 Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization 11.
149. See also the US State Department “Country report on human rights practices, 2004 - Botswana”, available at: .
150. After a long-running legal battle, Botswana's High Court ruled, on 13 December 2006, that the eviction of the San was illegal, and declared that the San are entitled to return to their ancestral land: see “Court: Botswana Bushmen wrongly evicted” (13 December 2006) The Associated Press
151. “Botswana's Bushmen win bid to return to ancestral land” (13 December 2006) Deutshe Press-Agentur.
152. The Botswana government grudgingly accepted the decision and has reportedly prescribed tough conditions which observers believe will frustrate the return: see “Botswana govt gets tough on Bushmen returning home” (15 December 2006) Mail&Guardian, available at: .
153. Young The African Colonial State, above at note 51 at 287.
154. Evictions Monitor, above at note 11 at 6.
155. Analysts have divided the global process of democratization into three waves, the latest wave being the “third wave”: see, eg, SP Huntington The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (1993, University of Oklahoma Press).
156. See also “UN boss reviews ‘Africa's Third Wave”’ (4 July 2006) Daily Observer (Gambia).
157. During a speech at the opening of the 7th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of African Heads of State at the African Union Banjul Summit, April 2006, Kofi Annan was reported to have summarized Africa's struggle for development into three waves: the first wave coincided with decolonization of the continent, the struggle against apartheid and the first attempt at nation-building; the second wave was marked by civil wars, and the contd tyranny of one-party or military rule, economic stagnation brought on by corrup weak governance and unchecked external interference; the third wave should be of enduring development, peace and respect for human rights. While Mr An described the second wave as “disappointing”, he implored African leaders to m resounding success of the third wave. See, however, JO Ihonvbere “Where is the ‘Third Wave’? A critique of Africa's non-transition to democracy” (1996) 43/4 Africa Today 343.
158. See, eg, UN HABITAT Forced Evictions, above at note 1.
159. See also Amnesty Internati “Africa: forced evictions are a human rights scandal” (3 October 2005) 263 Service, and The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) A Precarious Fu The Informal Settlement of Agbogbloshie Accra, Ghana (February 2004) (on file author).
160. See also, eg, PM Syagga and WHA Olima “The impact of compulsory acquisition on displaced households: the case of the Third Nairobi Water Su Project, Kenya” (1996) 20/1 HABITAT INTL 61.
161. See Fact Sheet No 25, above at note 2 at 9
162. UN-HABITAT Guide to Monitoring Target 11, a at note 6 at 2–13.
163. Amnesty International Canada “Nigeria”, above at note 26 at 9.
164. See, eg, L Creevey (ed) Women Farmers in Africa (1988, Syracuse University Press)
165. J. Davison (ed) Agriculture, Women and Land: The African Experience (1988, Westview Press)
166. J. Bryson “Women in agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: implications for development” (1981) 17/3 Journal for Development Studies 98.
167. Fact Sheet No 25, above at note 2.
168. L. Osorio “Information on cases of threatened and implemented evictions” (a presentation at a networking event on fighting forced evictions, World Urban Forum, Barcelona, Spain, 15 September 2004; on file with author) at 4.
169. Adopted an opened for signature, ratification and accession by UN general assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 (entered into force 2 September 1990 in accordance with art 49). This should not be confused with the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1959, GA Res 1386 (XIV), 14 UN GAOR Supp (No 16) at 19, UN Doc A/4354. Principles 1 and 2 of the declaration are especially relevant to the subject of discussion.
170. Adopted at the UN HABITAT Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, Canada, 31 May - 11 June 1976. The declaration includes a Plan of Action which made 64 recommendations for national action: see: .
171. Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/77.
172. “Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992” (vol 1, 1992, United Nations publication, Sales No E 93.I.8 and corrigenda): resolutions adopted by the conference, res 1, annex II. Others include The Gobal Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, adopted by general assembly res 43/ 181 of 20 December 1988.
173. See “Official records of the general assembly, forty-third session” supplement no 8, add (A/43/8/Add 1), General Comment No 4 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1991), the Instanbul Declaration on Human Settlements adopted at the UN Conference on Human Settlements, 1996, the World Summit on Social Development's Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action (1995) (A/CONF 166/9).
174. Adopted at the 3rd World Conference on Women, Nairobi, Kenya, 15–26 July 1985.
175. Adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women (Action for Equality, Development and Peace), Beijing, China, 4–15 September 1995.
176. See, eg, S Friedman Expropriation in International Law (1981, Greenwood Publishing Group)
177. R. Higgins “The taking of property by the state: recent developments in international law” (1982-III) 176 Recuiel des Cours 259
178. B.A. Wortley Expropriation in Public International Law (1959, Cambridge University Press)
179. B. Cheng “The rationale of compensation for expropriation” (1962) The Grotius Society 46.
180. This section of the Nigerian Constitution is non-justiciable. However, this author would argue that non-justiciability does not necessarily prevent the court from applying sec 16, even if indirectly. There is a duty on the courts, by virtue of sec 13 of the constitution, “to conform to, observe and apply” the provisions of chap II (under which sec 16 falls). This duty, it is argued, assumes heightened significance when adjudicating a chap IV right. In the context of societies burdened by serious governance challenges, such as those of Africa, this approach to the judicial function, which reflects the organizing principles of the various constitutions (freedom and sanctity of contracts, protection of property rights, protection of human rights, transparency and accountability, etc), has much to commend it. On this, see TI Ogowewo “Self-inflicted constraints on judicial government in Nigeria” (2005) 49/1 Journal of African Law 39 at 52–53.
181. See, eg, G Schubert The Public Interest: A Critique of the Theory of A Political Concept (1960, The Free Press)
182. R.E. Flathman The Public Interest: An Essay Concerning the Normative Discourse of Politics (1966, John Wiley & Sons)
183. D. Truman The Governmental Process (1951, Alfred A Knopf, Inc) at 50–51
184. Public Policy Forum The Public Interest, A Moving Target: Report on a National Search Conference on the Public Interest and the Professional Public Service (1998, Public Policy Forum).
185. Attempting to use the “public interest” as a marker for public policy in adjudication is often a challenge to judges as well: see, eg, PH Winfield “Public policy in the English common law”(1928–1929) 42 Harvard Law Review 76
186. a judge once described public policy as “an unruly horse, and when you get astride it you never know where it will carry you”: Richardson v Mellish (1824) 130 ER 294 at 303 (per Burrough J)
187. see also RS Abella “The Charter, the judicial role, and public policy” in TJ Courchene and AE Stewart (eds) Essays on Canadian Public Policy (1984, School of Policy Studies Queen's University) at 3.
188. See, eg, WAR Leys “The relevance and generality of ‘the public interest”’ in CJ Friedrich (ed) The Public Interest (1966, Atherton Press) 237.
189. S.K. Bailey “The public interest: some operational dilemmas” in CJ Friedrich (ed) The Public Interest (1966, Atherton Press) 96.
190. See also BM Barry “The use and abuse of “the public interest” in id 191
191. E. Bodenheimer “Prolegomena to a theory of the public interest” in id 205.
192. Bailey “The Public Interest”, above at note 134 at 97.
193. For example, the Millennium Development Goals, available at: .
194. For example, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), available at: .
195. For judicial support of a sort for this conclusion, see the Aideyan case, above at note 130 at 14, in which the Supreme Court of Nigeria stated: “Our law reports are replete with cases in which some … compulsory acquisitions for ‘public purposes’ turned out to be mere bogus smokescreens for malefaction”.
196. See A Sen “A decade of human development” (2000) 1/1 Journal of Human Development 17.
197. See OA Sanchez “The legacy of human development: a tribute to Mahbub ul Haq” (2000) 1/1 Journal of Human Development 9.
198. See, eg, SA Hewlett The Cruel Dilemmas of Development: Twentieth Century Brazil (1980, Basic Books)
199. K. Haq “Human development challenges in South Asia” (2000) 1/1 Journal of Human Development 71.
200. See, eg, A Kohli The State and Poverty in India (1987, Cambridge University Press)
201. H. Bienen and V Diejomaoh (eds) The Political Economy of Income Distribution in Nigeria (1981, Holmes and Meier)
202. K. Weyland Democracy Without Equity: Failures of Reform in Brazil (1996, University of Pittsburg Press).
203. See, eg, UNDP Human Development Report 2006 (2006, UNDP).
204. See the UN Millennium Development Goals, above at note 137.
205. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2005 (2005, United Nations).
206. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2006 (2006, United Nations).
207. See The UN Millennium Project, available at: .
208. UN Millennium Project,.
209. See also the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals 2000–2005 (2005, United Nations) at 1: [Whereas other regions of the world have recorded a long-term drop in poverty rates in the last two decades, in sub-Saharan Africa] “where GDP per capita fell by 14 per cent, the poverty rate rose from 41 per cent in 1981 to 46 per cent in 2001, and the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by more than 140 million. Growing numbers of people in this region have found few productive opportunities, agriculture has stagnated and the AIDS epidemic has taken a brutal toll on young adults in their most productive years”.
210. Toulmin “The new tragedy of the commons”, above at note 81.
211. See The Millennium Development Goals Report 2006, above at note 149 at 20: “In 2007, for the first time in history, the majority of people will live in urban areas.
212. Throughout most of the developing world, this will result in larger slum populations”. See UN-HABITAT State of the World's Cities, above at note 8.
213. UNDP Cities, People and Poverty: Urban Development Cooperation for the 1990s. A UNDP Strategy Paper (1991, UNDP).
214. McAuslan Bringing the law back in, above at note 37 at 359–360.
215. See, eg, VI Ogu and JE Ogbuozobe “Housing policy in Nigeria: towards enablement of private housing development” (2001) 25 HABITAT INTL 473.
216. McAuslan Bringing the law back in, above at note 37 at 176.
217. E. Berner “Learning from informal markets: innovative approaches to land and housing provision” (paper presented at the ESF/N-AERUS and UNRISD Workshop titled “Cities of the South: sustainability for whom?” Geneva, 3–6 May 2000; on file with author) at 4.
218. See, eg, H Srinivas “Urban development and urban poverty” (1996), available at: .
219. See also R Sanders “Towards a geography of informal activity” (1987) 24/4 Socio-Economic Planning Science 229
220. B. Sanyal “The urban informal sector revisited” (1988) 10/1 Third World Planning Review 65.
221. For a similar suggestion with respect to South Africa, see M Huchzermeyer “From ‘contravention of laws’ to ‘lack of rights’: redefining the problem of informal settlements in South Africa” (2004) 28 HABITAT INTL 333.
222. For a similar approach, see, eg, M Everett “Evictions and human rights: land disputes in Bogota, Colombia” (2001) 25 HABITAT INTL 453.
223. See, eg, HMG Ouedraogo “Decentralization: an enabling policy for local land management” (2005), available at:
224. H. Ouedraogo “Decentralization and local governance: experiences from francophone West Africa” (2003) 23/1 Public Administration and Development 97
225. see also LA Wily “Participatory forest management in Africa: an overview of progress and issues”, available at: .
226. Decentralization involves benefits as well as risks. It would: replace failed state land policies; lead to more effective land management; enable flexibility and legal pluralism in land management; and lead to improved participation and local governance. But decentralization may breed more corruption in the context of scarce local capacity and resources; poverty may be a constraint, just as institutional confusion and exclusion may set in. For a pessimistic view of decentralization, see P Woodhouse “African enclosures: a default mode of development” (2003) 31 World Development 10.
227. However, these constraints and risks are not necessarily insuperable: see, eg, J Ribot Waiting for Democracy: The Politics of Choice in Natural Resource Decentralization (2004, World Resources Institute)
228. M. Yacouba “Land tenure regimes, governance and decentralization: Niger's experience in decentralized management of natural resources” in Poverty and Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Land Tenure (1999, Sunningdale Park Conference Centre)
229. P. Delville, C Toulmin and S Traore (eds) The Dynamics of Resource Tenure in West Africa (2002, Heinemann)
230. L.A. Wily “Governance and Land Relations”: A Review of Decentralization of Land Administration and management in Africa (2003, IIED).
231. See, eg, G Payne (ed) Land, Rights and Innovations: Improving Tenure Security for the Urban Poor (2002, ITDG Publishing).
232. See also V Mukhija Squatters as Developers? Slum Redevelopment in Mumbai (2003, Ashgate).
233. See S Tanphiphat and P Simapichaicheth “Private sector housing in Thailand” (1991) Housing Finance International 10.
234. See, eg, J Calderon “The formalisation of property in Peru 2001–2002: the case of Lima” (2004) 28 HABITAT INTL 289.
235. See, eg, NC Aristizabal and AO Gomez “Improving security without titles in Bogota” (2004) 28 HABITAT INTL 245.
236. See generally Payne Land, Rights and Innovations, above at note 163
237. C. Rakodi and T Lloyd-Jones (eds) Urban Livelihoods - A People-Centred Approach to Reducing Poverty (2002, Earthscan)
238. A. Durand-Lasseerve and L Royston (eds) Holding their Ground - Secure Land Tenure for the Urban Poor in Developing Countries (2002, Earthscan).
239. P.T. Zeleza “The struggle for human rights in Africa” in PT Zeleza and PJ McConnaughay (eds) Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa (2004, University of Pennsylvania Press) 1 at 2.
240. See, eg, Ihonvbere “Where is the ‘Third Wave’?”, above at note 99.
241. See generally, Reassessing Democratic Transitions, 1990–1995 (1996) 43/4 Africa Today.
242. See Daily Observer “UN boss”, above at note 99: Mr Annan was reported to have said that the “third wave” has unfolded in Africa, “not always as forcefully as we might have wished, nor so consistently, but inexorably and unstoppably, it has continued to flow across this rich, vast and varied continent”.
243. See, eg, D Williams “The authoritarianism of African legal orders: a review and critique of RB Seidman's The State, Law and Development” (1981) 5 Contemporary Crisis 247 at 251
244. R.B. Seidman “Law and stratification: the African case” (1979) 3 Contemporary Crisis 17
245. C.Y. Thomas Dependence and Transformation: The Economics of the Transition to Socialism (1974, Basic Books)
246. L. Friedman Law and Society - An Introduction (1977, Basic Books) at 166–168.