Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba reassures EU and GIZ delegations on Government’s commitment to resolve land conflicts between Landlords and tenants on Mailo land
The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development represented by Minister Judith Nabakooba, has thanked EU and GIZ delegations for their support to resolve land conflicts among landlords and tenants in the districts of Mityana, Mubende, Kassanda and Gomba. The conflicts had led to illegal land evictions and destruction of property and lives.
While meeting the EU and GIZ delegations at the ministry headquarters in Kampala , Nabakooba said that the program of mapping occupancies after bringing on board the landlords and tenants was the best option since the Land Fund is not sufficient to buy out all landlords in order to have the tenants acquire registrable interests in their bibanja.
The Land Minister thanked the delegations for supporting the first ever issuance of certificates of occupancy to tenants in the greater Mubende area. This was in fulfillment of the provisions in the Land Act,Cap 227, which was enacted in 1998.
Land Minister Nabakooba meeting the EU and GIZ representatives at her office in Kampala
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% registered in the names of women.
Nabakooba thanked the partners for supporting the Ministry of Lands to put in place a mechanism that will allow under the law 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 take informed decisions in case of valuation, planning and/or execution of any future government plans,” she stated .
Nabakooba assured the partners that government is committed to support 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.
The EU and GIZ representatives included Iris Knabe, from the German Embassy, Christina Banuta from the EU, James Macbeth Forbes the GIZ Country Director, Chistina Ketter and Daniel Kirumira from GIZ – RELAPU Project. They pledged to continue supporting government initiatives in resolving the policy and legal challenges in the land sector in order to enhance security of tenure in the country and 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 an effort to find a lasting solution to the problem of illegal land evictions. The program will empower tenants to benefit from the government’s programs such as the Parish Development Model initiatives.
