CHALLENGES FACED IN LAND REGISTRATION IN CAMEROON AND MEASURES TO OVERCOME THEM

Abstract

Generally, before colonialism touched Africa, the notion of individual land tenure or land registration was alien. Land today is key asset in every strata of our society. However, despite the fact that many people own land today, very few have title to those lands or have embarked on any form of registration. A vast majority of those who own or purchase land usually brandish sale/transfer agreements or Deeds of Conveyance as proof of title. But even these are not conclusive titles of ownership because while they might suffice to justify an interest in land, they are inadequate to justify absolute ownership. The lack of a conclusive and final title to land is usually at the center of many land disputes among Cameroonians. Hence the importance of land registration cannot be overemphasized neither can the problems caused by its absence underestimated. despite the presence of the 1974 ordinance on land tenure in Cameroon and more specifically the 1976 decree establishing the condition for obtaining land certificates, the procedure for land registration still remains complex and unnecessarily lengthy in some cases and not many are familiar with the procedure.  The complex nature of the procedure coupled with lack of mastery probably accounts for the disproportionate rate of lack of registration to land acquisition in the country which is in itself problematic.