ABSTRACT
507. Allocation fees (Kishembe) are paid on a plot as a unit, not on each separate division. If such a unit contains mwate the fee is Shs.10/=; if it has no mwate the fee is Shs.5/=.
NOTE: Originally the word used for land allocation fees was buhais a which means “something that is a case for giving”. The word was not confined to the allocation of land but was used generally to denote a consideration which clinches a bargain between donor and recipient. The word Kishembe means a bribe and denotes the giving of a present to someone to induce him to intercede on behalf of the donor. Kishembe is now used generally, except in Kiziba, to denote the allocation fee. The original purpose of the dues paid for the allocation of land was that the acceptance of them by the Chief and his envoy was a recognition of the rights over the land in respect of which they were accepted. The amount paid varied; on the allocation of a nyarubanja the recipient usually paid a cow or a muzana (female slave) to the Chief. This was called kasha (that which produces). See Native Land Rules 1932. Letter No.20942/12 of 21-6-1932.
508. Should a man cultivate a plot for which he has not paid kishembe or transgress the boundaries of one on which he has paid, he is liable to a fine (exceptions, paras. 519, 519 note, 543, 595).