Claim that the British took away land from peasants is not accurate

What you need to know:

Vital features. The 1900 Buganda Agreement introduced two important features. First it divided land in Buganda into two parts of 8,000 square miles, which was reserved for Africans and the remainder of 9,000 square miles, which was vested in the British Crown.

Many people are confused by the mailo land system which exists only in the central region and calls for its abolition have been made from time to time.

To the extent that mailo land is an interest in land in fee simple (perpetuity), it does not differ from freehold with the exception being that mailo land was reserved for Africans and non-Africans could only own it with the consent of the Governor and the Buganda Lukiko. The intention behind the system was to protect African from being displaced from their lands by European settlers as was the case elsewhere.

The protection of African customary occupation of their lands goes back to the first land law enacted in the country, which was known as the Land Regulations of 1987, in which the Commissioner (later Governor), was authorised to grant land to anybody initially for a term of 21 years so long as the land applied for did not include land settled by natives. In this way, many non-African acquired land both from the Governor and through direct purchases from Africans.

The 1900 Buganda Agreement introduced two important features. First it divided land in Buganda into two parts of 8,000 square miles, which was reserved for Africans and the remainder of 9,000 square miles, which was vested in the British Crown.

Article 15 of the Agreement instructed the British administration to come up with a law to govern non-African access to mailo land. The section read “Europeans and non-natives who have acquired estates and whose claims thereto have been admitted by the Uganda Administration, will receive title deeds for such estates in such manner and with such limitations as may be formulated by Her Majesty’s representative.”

The provisions of this section were implemented in the Land Transfer Ordinance of 1906, which restricted transfer of land occupied by natives to non-natives without the consent in writing of the Governor.

The claim that the British took it away land from the peasants and gave to chiefs can be dismissed by quoting a Danish researcher who wrote “….Johnson (the Commissioner) applied from the outset the principle of state ownership and state control of disposal of land. The principle of state ownership was to be applied by making all uncultivated land Crown land. This would confirm that cultivated land belonged to the Africans, and would introduce a hitherto unknown concept of ownership.”

Following this twin principle, the Agreement went on to provide that “One thousand chiefs and private landowners would receive the estates of which they are already in possession.” In order to benefit from this provision, people had to apply to the Lukiko for confirmation of the size of their estates. After such confirmation, the Lukiko would issue provisional certificates, which would be deposited at the land office. After the land was surveyed, a final certificate would be issued on behalf of the Governor.

The chiefs referred to in the Agreement are the catholic and protestant chiefs, who ruled Buganda when the Kabaka exiled himself. They were appointed by the leaders of each faction and came from the peasant classes.
The chiefs and sub-chiefs created by the Agreement received a total of 613 square miles, which were attached to their offices and were governed under the Official Estates Ordinance.

In 1915, the Colonial Secretary in London stopped the practice of selling mailo land to non-Africans as this went against the spirit of the Agreement. All grants by the Governor and sales by Africans to non-Africans were converted into 90-year leases. At the end of the term, the land reverted to the African.

Mr Mulira is a lawyer. [email protected]