Affordable housing push fuels land tensions in Burkina Faso
Thursday, 4 March 2021 05:00 GMT
Locals in Boassa sit in the village center discussing concerns about having their land being taken away in Burkina Faso, February 5, 2021. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Sam Mednick
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Share: Project aims to build 40,000 affordable homes Villagers say developers are making unfair deals for land Government will look at reforms to land law
By Sam Mednick
BOASSA, Burkina Faso, March 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - W hile Joanny Nakoulima was visiting neighbours in January, bulldozers blazed through his farm in central Burkina Faso unannounced, destroying his crops within minutes.
But while these negotiations were underway, local real estate developer Saha Immobilier was making separate deals for land belonging to some of the same residents, Nakoulima said. Now the company, which is one of the firms working with the government on the 40,000 houses project, is laying claim to all 225 hectares, including the land on Nakoulima's farm, and offering the villagers only five plots in return.
While Joanny Nakoulima was visiting neighbours in January, bulldozers blazed through his farm in central Burkina Faso unannounced, destroying his crops within minutes.