Land Disputes Resolution Mechanism in Zanzibar: Highlights and Challenges

The backbone of the land dispute mechanism in Zanzibar lies on the Land Tribunal, mandated as the primary organ to decide land disputes. This work presents the strengths and weaknesses of the Land Tribunal. The objective is to assess the practicality of the Tribunal through a qualitative legal research methodology. This paper discusses that the Tribunal has been successful in providing a proper channel for people to lodge their cases, a medium of research and aligning the decisions as per the Tribunal’s assessors and experts. However, the Tribunal is faced with challenges including applicability of legal technicalities in its procedures, few sub-offices as well as limited manpower and inadequate financial support. Apart from recommending suitable support for the Tribunal, a revisit of the law is also essential to address unnecessary legal technicalities.