5,000 tenants to get certificates next month
Many tenants did not get those certificates, which led to their evidence on pretext that they were trespassers. Courtesy photo
What you need to know:
- Districts of Mityana, Kassanda and Mubende have had several land wrangles between tenants and landlords. We have been able to bring the two parties on the table and they have agreed. Certificates of occupancy will solve land ownership problems, Mr Dennis Obbo, The Ministry of Lands spokesperson
Kassanda. Government is set to give out certificates of occupancy to at least 5,000 tenants in Myanzi Sub-county in Kassanda District next month to resolve land conflicts in the area.
The Ministry of Lands spokesperson, Mr Dennis Obbo, said agreements between tenants and landlords and document verification have been finalised.
“Districts of Mityana, Kassanda and Mubende have had several land wrangles between tenants and landlords. We have been able to bring the two parties on the table and they have agreed. Certificates of occupancy will solve land ownership problems,” Mr Obbo said at the launch of the National Land Forum week at the weekend.
The Ministry of Lands will be celebrating 20 years of the Land Act and from yesterday to tomorrow, land search at their offices will be free.
According to the land laws of 1998, tenants commonly known as Bibanja may or may not get certificates of occupancy that guarantee their stay on the land.
The land law was intended to cure the wrangles between landlords and tenants, but the problems were aggrieved due to lack of operationalisation of regulations.
Many tenants did not get those certificates, which led to their evidence on pretext that they were trespassers.
The ministry attributes the land wrangles and persistent evictions to delay in implementing the regulations of the land laws.
Land wrangles in the countryside had increased and President Museveni had to appoint a commission of inquiry led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire to investigate land matters.
Mr Obbo said the area land committees were central in the issuing of certificates of occupancy to tenants, but they have not been functioning due to financial constraints.
“We haven’t been getting money from the Ministry of Finance for the area land committees to do their work. The clients are the ones who help the members to visit the locus,” he said.
Some people were getting titles in gazetted areas such as wetlands and central forests.
Mr Grace Kagoro, the Assistant Commissioner in-charge of Land Management at the ministry, said acquisition of titles in gazetted areas has become difficult due to aerial mapping of the entire country, which has been done.
“It would be very difficult to get land in a wetland. We have mapped where wetlands and forests are. Our land offices have copies. If you bring documents that you want land in a gazetted area, you will not be able to get it,” Mr Kagoro said.
