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The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania

Compensation for land acquired for petroleum exploitation can be highly contentious. Often, the discovery of petroleum in a locality raises the landholders' expectations about the net benefit that the resources will bring their way. These expectations collide with the state's interest to exploit the...

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Main Author: Rugazia, Aloys R
Other Authors: Chirwa, Danwood Mzikenge
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Public Law 2022
Subjects:
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access_status_str Open Access
author Rugazia, Aloys R
author2 Chirwa, Danwood Mzikenge
author_browse Chirwa, Danwood Mzikenge
Rugazia, Aloys R
author_facet Chirwa, Danwood Mzikenge
Rugazia, Aloys R
author_sort Rugazia, Aloys R
collection Thesis
description Compensation for land acquired for petroleum exploitation can be highly contentious. Often, the discovery of petroleum in a locality raises the landholders' expectations about the net benefit that the resources will bring their way. These expectations collide with the state's interest to exploit the discovered petroleum resources for the benefit of the whole nation. This brings to the fore the clash between the right of the landholders to their property and the right of the general public to natural resources. To resolve the clash, international human rights law requires the state to pay fair compensation for the land it acquires for petroleum projects. The main question this study asks is: to what extent is the Tanzanian petroleum legal framework for land compensation fair? To answer this question, the study draws on Rawls' theory of fairness, and analyses the jurisprudence of international human rights law, which helps to identify the elements of a fair land compensation regime in the context of petroleum projects. The study shows that, at the international level, the legal instruments and jurisprudence largely incorporate Rawls' theory of fairness by demanding that in acquiring land for petroleum projects the state must approach the landholders as equals. As such, the state must employ a participatory approach, which calls for consultation with the affected people, obtaining their consent, make decisions by consensus where possible, and considering their livelihood situations in calculating compensation. While Tanzanian petroleum laws and practices recognise the duty to give fair compensation to the people affected by petroleum activities before acquiring their lands, the study highlights numerous shortcomings in these laws and practices that prove that the land compensation scheme for petroleum projects in Tanzania fails to meet all the requirements of fairness. The study makes several key recommendations that could ensure that Tanzania fully complies with such requirements of fairness.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:10.861Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36057 The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania Rugazia, Aloys R Chirwa, Danwood Mzikenge public law Compensation for land acquired for petroleum exploitation can be highly contentious. Often, the discovery of petroleum in a locality raises the landholders' expectations about the net benefit that the resources will bring their way. These expectations collide with the state's interest to exploit the discovered petroleum resources for the benefit of the whole nation. This brings to the fore the clash between the right of the landholders to their property and the right of the general public to natural resources. To resolve the clash, international human rights law requires the state to pay fair compensation for the land it acquires for petroleum projects. The main question this study asks is: to what extent is the Tanzanian petroleum legal framework for land compensation fair? To answer this question, the study draws on Rawls' theory of fairness, and analyses the jurisprudence of international human rights law, which helps to identify the elements of a fair land compensation regime in the context of petroleum projects. The study shows that, at the international level, the legal instruments and jurisprudence largely incorporate Rawls' theory of fairness by demanding that in acquiring land for petroleum projects the state must approach the landholders as equals. As such, the state must employ a participatory approach, which calls for consultation with the affected people, obtaining their consent, make decisions by consensus where possible, and considering their livelihood situations in calculating compensation. While Tanzanian petroleum laws and practices recognise the duty to give fair compensation to the people affected by petroleum activities before acquiring their lands, the study highlights numerous shortcomings in these laws and practices that prove that the land compensation scheme for petroleum projects in Tanzania fails to meet all the requirements of fairness. The study makes several key recommendations that could ensure that Tanzania fully complies with such requirements of fairness. 2022-03-14T05:07:39Z 2022-03-14T05:07:39Z 2021 2022-03-14T05:06:40Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36057 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law
spellingShingle public law
Rugazia, Aloys R
The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania
title_full The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania
title_fullStr The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania
title_short The right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities: a critique of law and practice in Tanzania
title_sort right to fair compensation for land acquired for petroleum activities a critique of law and practice in tanzania
topic public law
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36057
work_keys_str_mv AT rugaziaaloysr therighttofaircompensationforlandacquiredforpetroleumactivitiesacritiqueoflawandpracticeintanzania
AT rugaziaaloysr righttofaircompensationforlandacquiredforpetroleumactivitiesacritiqueoflawandpracticeintanzania