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Legal obstacles derail successful implementation of MKURABITA
2006-07-19 09:48:55
By Ludger Kasumuni and Beatrice Mlyansi
Legal impediments derail successful implementation of the Property and Business Formalisation Programme (MKURABITA), according to stakeholders’ meeting in Dar es Salaam.
More than 200 Stakeholders in a one-day forum on implementation of MKURABITA last week listed these impediments, embodied in the marriage, land, labour and capital market laws as major obstacles for speedy implementation of the programme.
They called upon the government to prepare proposals for amending those laws in order to implement the programme successfully in line with the objective of reducing poverty by half in the year 2025.
They were contributing to a paper presented by High Court Advocate, Edwin Igenge, who argued that the four laws had legal provisions, which hinder smooth implementation of MKURABITA.
’’Without amending these laws the whole programme of MKURABITA will be a non-starter. There is a need to amend these laws for successful implementation of MKURABITA, which aims at reducing poverty among Tanzanians,’’ Igenge said.
Explaining on the weakness of Capital Market and Securities Authority Act (CMSA) of 1994 in addressing MKURABITA, the lawyer said it fails to consider formalization of small businesses and economic activities existing in rural and urban economies.
He said CMSA was bias against Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by recognising only big business undertakings.
On the land laws, Igenge said that since land is owned by the President on behalf of the public, there is difficulty in the smooth conduct of real estate business.
’’Let us say individuals or villages own a huge land which is endowed with valuable minerals, the villagers can easily lose the right to own it for their benefit, as the government can easily occupy it for public interest,’’ he said.
Regarding marriage law, he said a married wife or husband could easily claim that there was no consensus when their title deed was taken by the bank as collateral.
’’Under this circumstance of legal wrangle surrounding the married couples about non-payment of bank loan, the respective bank can easily lose a civil case,’’ he said.
He explained that there was a need to advise people on the need to register their marriages in order to get bank collaterals smoothly.
With regard to labour laws’ impediments, the lawyer said that the 2004 Employment and Labour Relations Act had still unresolved issues pitting between employers and employees, hence would affect smooth offering of bank credit to workers.
According to him, while employers complain that some provisions such as overtime payments and maternity leave favour workers, the workers complain that other legal provisions on security of employment favour employers by allowing them to fire workers provided that they pay them one month salaries and allowances.
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