Mineral rights ownership – what is it?
Mineral rights ownership refers to who owns the rights to
extract minerals – that is, oil, gas, gold, coal and other metals and minerals
– from lands located in that country. This ownership is very important, since
the rights confer considerable potential for profit from the extraction of these
minerals.
In virtually all countries around the world, the owner of
the surface land – be it a house or farmland – has absolutely no rights with
regards to mineral ownership. Indeed, it is the central governments or monarchs
who own such rights. For example, in the United Kingdom, the Queen in theory
owns all the rights to extract minerals from all lands in the country,
including those lands located offshore. In practice, of course, this ownership
is actually governed by the central government.
Tanzania Endorses Bills On Natural Resources
Parliament yesterday passed two mineral resources
bills after a highly partisan debate that affected the quality of new inputs to
the proposed laws.
The Minister of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Prof
Palamagamba Kabudi, told the House that the Natural Wealth and Resources
Contracts (Review and Re-negotiation of Unconscionable Terms) Bill, 2017 and
the Natural Wealth and Resources (Permanent Sovereignty) Bill, 2017 sought to
bring sweeping changes regarding the management of Tanzania's natural
resources.
Quoting one of the speeches of the Father of the Nation,
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Prof Kabudi termed the laws "redemption" for
Tanzania.
"The revolution we are seeking is for all of us... it
is not for a few people. When they bullied us, we were all bullied... when they
exploited us, we were all exploited and when they ignored us, we were all
ignored. It was our weakness that made it easy for us to be bullied, exploited
and ignored. The revolution that we seek must be for all of us so that a
Tanzanian should no longer be weak for people to use that weakness to exploit
and ignore him or her," said Prof Kabudi, borrowing from one of Mwalimu's
speeches.
That set the tone for heated debate in the House that saw
MPs from the ruling CCM endorse the bills unconditionally, while the Opposition
said that much as it supported efforts to protect Tanzania's natural resources,
it was concerned that the proposed laws had been rushed through Parliament.
Addressing journalists shortly after the morning session,
the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament, Mr Freeman Mbowe, said
they too wanted Tanzania's natural resources to be protected, but added that
the newly endorsed proposed laws would discourage prospective investors.
"We don't oppose any decision that seeks to protect our
natural resources...far from it. What we are against is the time it has taken
Parliament to pass the two bills," he said, adding that what the
Opposition expected was for the process to be more inclusive.
Mr Mbowe said the Opposition feared the decision to ram the
bills through Parliament would send the wrong signals to investors.
"As a result, we may not even get what we had planned
to get," he said.
Earlier in Parliament, four opposition MPs - Ms Cecilia
Paresso (Special Seats-Chadema), Mr John Heche (Tarime Rural-Chadema), Mr John
Mnyika (Kibamba-Chadema) and Ms Riziki Mngwali (Special Seats-CUF) - voiced
their concern about the speed with which the two bills were being passed.
But CCM lawmakers - including Mr Japhet Hasunga (Vwawa), Mr
Adamson Mwakasaka (Tabora Urban), Mr Joseph Kasheku (Geita), Mr Deo Sanga
(Makambako), Mr Peter Serukamba (Kigoma North) and Mr Sharrif Mansour (Kwimba)
- said the opposition's fears were baseless.
"It makes little sense for the Opposition to claim that
they oppose the bills because they were tabled under a certificate of urgency
and yet during the run-up to the 2015 General Election they (the Opposition)
picked their presidential candidate (Mr Edward Lowassa) under a similar
arrangement," Mr Kasheku said amid laughter.
Mr Zitto Kabwe (Kigoma Urban-ACT-Wazalendo) said the quality
of debate did not match the seriousness of the bills they were about to
endorse.
"We were supposed to have these laws as soon as we
attained independence... these are revolutionary laws that for the first time
state that our natural resources will be owned by Tanzanians," he said.
Source: Mineral Rights Extract
Article Source: The Citizen allAfrica