ABSTRACT
The rapid advancement of drone technology, commonly referred to as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), transformed land surveying and administration globally, offering efficient, accurate, and cost-effective methods for geospatial data collection. Governments increasingly deployed drone-assisted surveying in cadastral mapping, land registration, urban planning, environmental monitoring, and land dispute resolution. In Tanzania, however, the legal and institutional framework governing land surveying did not evolve at the same pace as technological innovation. Key legislation, including the Land Survey Act [Cap 324 Revised Edition 2023], the Professional Surveyors (Registration) Act [Cap 270 Revised Edition 2023], and the Civil Aviation Act [Cap 80 Revised Edition 2023], was enacted before the widespread adoption of drone technology and therefore lacked comprehensive provisions regulating drone-assisted cadastral surveying. The existing legal regime created uncertainty regarding the legal recognition of drone-generated geospatial data, institutional responsibilities, professional accountability, evidentiary admissibility, and privacy protection. Through comparative legal analysis, this article evaluated the adequacy of Tanzania's regulatory framework, drawing on reform experiences from South Africa, Rwanda, and Kenya. Several legal and institutional shortcomings were identified, including fragmented regulatory mandates, absence of statutory recognition of drone-generated cadastral surveys, inadequate privacy safeguards, and limited professional regulation of drone surveyors. The article argued that without legal modernisation, Tanzania risks undermining land tenure security, investment confidence, and effective dispute resolution, and concluded that comprehensive legislative reform, institutional coordination, technical standardisation, and specialised professional regulation are essential for integrating drone technology into transparent and legally certain land governance.
Keywords: Drone Technology; Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS); Land Surveying; Land Administration; Cadastral Mapping; Geospatial Information; Land Governance; Tanzania; South Africa; Rwanda; Kenya.