By Spy Uganda
Kampala: The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development represented by Hon Judith Nabakooba, met the EU and GIZ delegations to shed light on work being done in the districts of Mityana, Mubende, Kassanda and Gomba to resolve issues of land conflicts amongst landlords and tenants resulting into illegal land evictions and destruction of property and lives.
Nabakooba noted that the program of mapping occupancies after bringing on board the landlords and tenants was the best option in view of the fact that the Land Fund is insufficient and cannot be used to buy out the landlords in order for the tenants to acquire registrable interests in their bibanja.
Nabakooba thanked the delegation for supporting the first-ever issuance of certificates of occupancy to tenants in Greater Mubende. This was in fulfilment of the provisions in the Land Act, Cap 227, which was enacted in 1998.
The tenants who received the Certificates of Occupancy consisted of 61% men, 15% were registered in the names of both men and women, and 24% were registered in the names of women.
She thanked the partners for putting in place a mechanism, as provided under the law to be able to have a Register of Occupants which shows mailo certificates that are encumbered with occupancies; the names and contact addresses of the occupants; the exact area of land under each occupancy; and the total area of land mapped under-occupancy per sub–county.
”The information would make it easy for Government to make informed decisions in case of valuation, planning and/or execution of any future Government plans,” said Nabakooba.
Nabakooba assured the partners that Government is committed to supporting the initiative put in place to register tenants and ensure that they acquire certificates of occupancy in the next phase. She emphasized the need to empower women through sensitization in order to secure their land rights and ensure peaceful co-existence between all categories of tenants and landlords.
On their part, the EU and GIZ representatives who included Iris Knabe, from the German Embassy, Christina Banuta from the EU, James Macbeth Forbes the GIZ Country Director, ChistinaKetter and Daniel Kirumira from GIZ – RELAPU Project pledged to support Government initiatives in resolving the Policy and legal challenges in the land sector so as to enhance the security of tenure in the country and to ensure peaceful co-existence of landlord and tenants, with both securing legal documentation.
The meeting also resolved to upscale the Government mailo land intervention in order to find a lasting solution to the illegal land evictions, including empowering tenants to be able to benefit from the Government’s programs such as the Parish Development Model initiatives.
