45 govt schools risk losing land to encroachers
Pupils attending a class. The communities that are supposed to protect the school land have turned into encroachers and we are worried because some schools have already lost a big chunk of their land under unclear circumstances,” Mr Christopher Wamika, district education officer. File photo
What you need to know:
- Problem. Kibuuku education officials say most schools have no documents showing proof of land ownership.
Kibuku. At least 45 government-aided primary schools in Kibuku District are at risk of losing their land to grabbers due to lack of land titles.
Mr Christopher Wamika, the district education officer, on Friday said some unscrupulous individuals have taken advantage of the situation to grab school land.
“Most of the schools have lost their land under dubious manner and others are still battling the land grabbers in court over ownership,” Mr Wamika said while presenting an education status report under a project dubbed: Citizen action for improved accountability and public service.
The education official said most schools have no documents showing proof of their land.
“This is a big concern which needs to be addressed by expeditiously surveying and securing land titles for the schools,” Mr Wamika said.
Some of the schools embroiled in land wrangles include Nankodo Islamic, Bugwere, Kajoko, Pulaka primary schools, among others.
The district has more than 50 government-aided primary schools with an enrolment of 52,620 pupils.
The LC5 vice chairperson, Mr Gerald Jeera, said they will survey all school land.
“We are going to survey [the land] because there has been massive cases of land grabbing reported. It is now no longer a matter of joking and lamenting but action,” Mr Jeera said.
Ms Shibah Namulindwa, the Action Aid programme officer- Pallisa Cluster, however, blamed the district for delaying to take action.
“The leadership would not have waited to reach this stage where other schools have already lost part of their land,” Ms Namulindwa said.
She also noted other challenges still facing the education sector in the district such as shortage of classrooms and furniture.
“In some schools, pupils study under temporary shelters and others sit on the ground,” she said.
Ms Namulindwa said the primary objective of the dialogue was to identify service delivery gaps so that they are fixed.
In 2014, government announced plans to title all land belonging to educational institutions countrywide following massive encroachment through a racket of school heads and other bureaucrats.
The Education ministry directed district officials to work with head teachers and college principals to submit information on school land so that the government can arrange to survey it and process land titles.
The information indicated the school name, location, status of title, size and type of ownership (mailo, freehold, public) and encumbrances, if any.
Under the law, the land is held in public trust through the Uganda Land Commission.
However, there have been controversies surrounding acquisition of school land by investors in most of the institutions.
