Government wants private consultants off land acquisition projects

Lands minister Betty Amongi has said government will be utilising the government chief valuer instead of hiring consultants.

What you need to know:

  • The SGR Project office is carrying out land acquisition with the CGV involved but without private consultants. For now, contestations on compensation amounts have been muted.
  • Land acquisition is still considered one of the reasons for project delays and low absorption of borrowed funds by the government.

Kampala- Government is considering a move to have private consultants completely removed from taking part in land compensation, valuation and assessments.

According to Ms Betty Amongi, the minister of Lands, private consultants were in part responsible for the higher costs of compensation on public projects.

“Most of the high compensation costs come from private consultants hired by agencies. It used to be the case with the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and we realised compensation costs were high.

That is why the land compensation unit within UNRA has been strengthened to deal with land issues,” she said during a meeting organised by Transparency International and the Civic Response on Environment and Development (CRED) in Kampala on Tuesday.

Often, when the government is embarking on public works such as roads, a consultant is hired to carry out evaluations on who will be compensated.
The consultants also draft Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) that have to be approved by the chief government valuer (CGV).

However, Ms Amongi revealed the CGV’s office has the capacity to carry out valuations and draft RAPs, without necessitating the need for private consultants.

“We have an issue with private consultants but we should not. We can do this our own way under the office of the CGV. We have been trying it out with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project and I must admit that it is working,” she said.

No consultants for SGR
The SGR project did not hire a private consultant as it embarked on land compensation for the route from Malaba to Kampala.

The SGR Project office is carrying out land acquisition with the CGV involved but without private consultants. For now, contestations on compensation amounts have been muted.

Additionally, there has been timely and fair compensation with amounts paid in less than six months to land owners. Ms Amongi said she wants this approach replicated across the board. Several agencies and ministries are already adopting this approach.

Land acquisition is still considered one of the reasons for project delays and low absorption of borrowed funds by the government.

There have been allegations of corruption with inflated rates of compensation, land titles in wetlands and speculators that take advantage of prior information on where a public project will be located or pass through.

According to Mr Bashir Twesigye, the executive director, CRED, the compulsory land acquisition on road projects and oil region has been tainted with violations that go against Constitution of Uganda.

“The acquisitions have left in their trail so many unresolved problems. Among them are the delayed and unpaid compensation in respect of some of the acquisitions, inadequate and unfair compensation, illegal evictions prior to compensation to mention but a few,” he said.
Currently, the government is also proposing to amend an out-dated Land Acquisition Act, to allow government to compensate the registered proprietors and other landowners prior and also while the infrastructure development process is on-going.

Property rights
What the constitution says. The 1995 Constitution provides for a general protection of property rights to the effect that everyone is entitled to own property and one cannot be deprived of their property except where the deprivation is catered for within the confines of the Constitution including the requirement for payment of prompt, fair and adequate compensation.