Whether in the urbanization of Nova Vida, as in Kifica, in Talatona or even in the urbanization of Lar do Patriota and in others in the city of Luanda, it is easy to find billboards of renowned international real estate agents that operate in the Angolan market announcing the sale of land or technically called rustic buildings.

These billboards that advertise the sales made by these renowned real estate companies do not refer only to urban buildings, which are private property, but also to rural buildings, which are also property of the private domain of the State. However, the Constitution of the Republic of Angola states that “Land is the original property of the State” (see article 15 of the Constitution of the Republic of Angola).

Consequently, when citizens have access to land through a concession act, they are conditioned to the legal principles and rules that guide its use and fruition; whether access to land materializes through property rights, customary useful domains, civil useful domains, surface rights or even precarious occupation rights (see article 34 of the Land Law).

Among these principles, we highlight the useful and effective use of land (see article 7 of the Land Law), as well as the principle of adequate capacity (see article 45 of the Land Law). The first principle says that “land rights acquired, transferred or constituted, under the terms of this law, are extinguished by their non-exercise or by non-compliance with useful and effective utilization rates for three consecutive years or six interpolated years, whatever the the reason”.

In other words, when the land is given to the private individual, it cannot be unused within that period of time. The terrain has to be explored; the individual must remove the due economic utilities from the land, under penalty of violating the principle of useful and effective use of the land. If this happens, the State can provoke the extinction of the granted right, through the figure of reversal; because the land is the exclusive property of the State. And the individual must respect the commitments assumed with the State when receiving the land right granted to him by the State.

Taking into account the above, many jurists and not only understand that the “sale of land” is illegal; whether it be the sale of land, as such, or the figure of “ceding the contractual position” in a euphemistic way. The sale of land is illegal because, as is known, the assignment is an option that assists the State or public entities to whom the State has granted rights to grant land.

The undeniable truth, however, is that land is “sold” in broad daylight, under the silent gaze of those who have the obligation to impose and enforce the Law. It is, therefore, necessary and urgent to have a clear definition of how land deals are carried out in our country, taking into account the transversal importance of land for the satisfaction of public needs, on the one hand. And, on the other hand, mindful of the need to respect the legitimate expectations of economic agents, granting them due security and legal certainty.

Source: Expansão