Land probe: Bukasa Cemetery land give away flouted procedures says senior registrar

Bukasa Cemetery land owned by the Kampala City Authority in Kira Municipality in Wakiso District was parceled and allocated to private developers without following due procedure, a senior government official has revealed.
Ms Louella Ataro, a senior registrar of titles in the Ministry of Lands said that the process of issuing titles on Bukasa Cemetery land was faulty for lack of requisite documents.

“The documents for issuance of freehold titles were presented to me. There must have been a certificate of customary ownership but it was not followed. I apologise for not following the procedure,” said Ms Ataro.
Appearing before the Commission of Inquiry into land matters, Ms Ataro attributed the mistake to complacence and breakdown of systems in land administration. The registrar of titles was being questioned over issuance of land titles for appropriation of government land that had been earmarked for public burial grounds under management of then Kampala City Council (KCC).

Ms Ataro also confessed that she issued one land title in the names of a one Brian Buhanda but insisted that she acted basing on documents approved by the district land board.
“When we were presented with the documents, there was no area schedule attached for me to raise a red flag to know that the land belongs to KCC. I would not have known that the application was in relation to Bukasa Cemetery land and even the surveyor did not indicate that,” she added.

Asked what guides the registrars of titles on customary ownership, the registrar apologised and said that the system has not been followed and suggested that it should be.
Ms Ataro was also quick to add that in the process, she rejected 10 other applications for land titles for lack of requisite documents.

Witnesses earlier testified that Wakiso District Land Board issued freehold land titles to individuals and developers which have reduced the public burial ground land from more than 40 acres to currently five acres.
Those owning titles on the cemetery include; Seyani and Brothers Construction Company with 10 acres, on a 99-year lease from a lawyer, Herbert Kiggundu Mugerwa; Naguru Muslim community who own three acres, the Tabliq Muslim Sect who own two acres used as burial grounds; as well as former assistant commissioner land inspection, Ms Catherine Mulinde Mukasa who owns three plots of a quarter an acre each.
At the same sitting, Ms Ataro also apologised to the commission for failing to give information in regards to Kijjabijo wetland in Wakiso.

In July, Ms Ataro was arrested and detained for allegedly giving false information for failing to respond to questions asked by the commission.
She was being quizzed in regard to her conduct and role she played in the giveaway of Kijabijjo wetland in Gayaza, Wakiso District.
Accused of being responsible for the issuance of titles, Ms Ataro also confessed that it was wrong of her not to put comments on the applications she rejected.