Residents petition Mengo over land registration

Luweero. Several residents, including community leaders, in Luweero District are seeking audience with Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga over the recent compulsory land registration and acquisition of leases by tenants on Buganda Kingdom land.

The leaders and residents from Butuntumula and Luweero Sub-counties claim many tenants on kingdom land are still suspicious about Mengo’s plan to register their Bibanja (plots of land) and many are hesitant to register.

“The recent announcement by the katikkiro that all tenants on kingdom land have to register afresh and acquire lease titles calls for wider consultation and sensitisation to avoid a backlash at the time of implementation,” said Ms Noelina Nanyonjo, a woman representative at Ngogolo Parish in Butuntumula Sub-county, Luweero District.

“The land leasing system should not be made compulsory without consultation. We are unlucky that we cannot seek direct audience with the Kabaka, but we can at least voice our concerns through the katikkiro. We believe he will receive our message and find time to come and explain to us,” she said.

Ms Nanyonjo was speaking during a trainers’ workshop for local leaders organised by Concern for Community Development and Child Welfare Initiatives (CODI) to assist the community in interpreting and internalising the different processes for land transactions in Luweero Town on Monday.

The training attracted more than 200 participants from Luweero District.

Last week, Katikkiro Mayiga announced that the Kabaka had directed that all tenants on kingdom land, who are fully registered, be issued with 49-year lease titles. He also advised those who have not yet registered their bibanja to do so in order to benefit from this programme. The six-month programme dubbed, “a title at your hands’, according to the katikkiro will help tenants on Kingdom land legitimise their tenancy and soothe land disputes in the kingdom.
“We really need a message of assurance. How will our families survive in case the 49-year lease is not renewed? We believe the land leasing system should not be made compulsory since we already have the ground rent payment system in place,” Mr Muhamad Ssali, a resident of Butuntumula Sub-county said.

Kampala Metropolitan Police public relations officer, Mr Emilian Kayima, who was one of the facilitators at the workshop, said: “You must be very careful who you deal with when buying or selling land. The land agreement you undertake must be genuine. Many people have come to police after losing their precious property, including land, to fraudsters. I don’t speak for Buganda, but I can volunteer to pass your message on to the katikkiro if you believe there is need for clarification on the matter.”

Victims

Buganda Kingdom has of late faced public criticism over the rate at which they are leasing out land, some occupied by Kabaka’s subjects and some housing public facilities and private developers. Some of the recent victims include Nabagereka Primary School in Mengo-Kisenyi Parish and Mengo-Bakuli Market whose land was parcelled out to private developers.

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