Do you have to move as soon as you are paid?
No. You are entitled to notice, to a place to go, and in most cases to time to take the harvest with you.
No. You are entitled to adequate notice, to have received your compensation first, and — where you are physically displaced — to have somewhere to go before you are asked to leave. Being paid on Monday does not oblige you to be gone by Friday.
What has to be in place before possession
- Compensation received, not merely approved or instructed.[1]
- Replacement housing or land available where you are physically displaced, or transitional accommodation and support if it is not ready.
- Written notice stating the date, with enough time to organise a move.
- Any outstanding grievance resolved, or expressly provided for.[2]
- Assistance to move where the household cannot manage it alone — which for elderly or disabled households is a condition, not a courtesy.
Reasonable notice, in practice
There is no single number, and the test is whether the period is genuinely workable: enough to find alternative accommodation, arrange transport, move belongings and salvageable materials, and where possible take a standing harvest.
Timing matters too. Possession during a harvest, in the middle of a school term, or in bad weather is avoidable and should be raised.[3]
Your crops and your materials
Two things are commonly lost by default because nobody asks. A standing crop should either be harvested before possession or compensated. And salvageable materials from a structure you are compensated for — iron sheets, timber, doors, fittings — are normally yours to remove, since compensation is calculated on the cost of building new.
Confirm both in writing before the date, because after a site is cleared neither is recoverable.[4]
If you are pressed to leave early
Pressure to vacate before payment arrives is common where a contractor is mobilising. It is also exactly the situation the payment-before-displacement rule exists to prevent.
Record it as a grievance with dates, ask for the notice and the legal basis in writing, and keep a copy. If possession proceeds without compensation having been received, that is not a scheduling dispute — it is a breach of the standard the project is financed under, and the lender's accountability mechanism accepts complaints about it directly.
Sources
- [1]Performance Standard 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement — International Finance Corporation, 2012.
- [2]Guidance Note 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement — International Finance Corporation, 2012.
- [3]ESF Guidance Note 5: Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement — World Bank, 2018.
- [4]Good Practice Handbook: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement — International Finance Corporation, 2023.
Olule Solomon
Lead Consultant, ValueSpace
Olule Solomon is Lead Consultant at ValueSpace, where he works on land acquisition and resettlement systems for donor-financed infrastructure in East Africa. He writes about the practical gap between what the safeguard standards require and what a project can actually evidence at completion audit.
Related reading
- The line between lawful possession and forced evictionTaking possession is a legal act with conditions attached. Where those conditions fail, the project has carried out an eviction.
- Can you still harvest your crops after the cut-off date?The cut-off stops new claims; it does not take your standing crop. What you are owed for a harvest you cannot take.
- Can you choose where you are resettled?You get a say and rarely a veto. Where the choice is real, it is usually between cash and a site — and the site is chosen before you are asked.
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