ABSTRACT
In late 1993 a Land Tenure Commission was established, under the chairmanship of Professor Rukuni, to inquire into appropriate agricultural land tenure systems. Its terms of reference were extremely wide-ranging and included the requirement that it 'examine the present inheritance system in each of the sub-sectors of agriculture and, on the basis of the proposed system of land tenure, recommend appropriate inheritance procedures to be followed'. In the School of Oriental and African Studies Areas the Commission found serious succession problems, deriving in part from the principle that land should devolve on the customary heir. The Commission reported 'prolonged inheritance disputes' particularly within polygamous families. One striking feature of the new law is that, rather than simply setting out the inheritance rights of various categories of beneficiary, it gives priority to consultation procedures and to the desirability of securing the agreement of the affected parties to the scheme of distribution.
