Hold urgent national dialogue on compulsory land acquisition

Jonathan Ochom

What you need to know:

Consensus building. Ugandans will reach a national consensus on the requisite amendments to the land acquisition laws. With unanimity built, government will be in position to pursue its development agenda using its powers of eminent domain while at the same time respecting, upholding and fulfilling the land and property rights of citizens.

Under Article 26 of the Constitution, every person has a right to own property either individually or in association with others. Besides, no person shall be compulsorily deprived of property or any interest unless the taking of possession or acquisition is, to necessitate public use, is in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality and public health. It further provides for prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation, prior to the taking of possession or acquisition of private property.

The Land Acquisition Act (1965) provides an elaborate framework on compulsory land acquisition in the country. Section 7 thereof empowers the Minister for Lands to take possession of private land at any time after an award of compensation value has been made by an assessor, if the minister certifies that it is in the public interest to do so.

Over the years, this provision has facilitated government to compulsorily acquire land until it was expunged by both the Constitutional and Supreme Court in 2014. Since then, government has not had a lasting solution to the impasse created by the court’s decision, especially in cases where the land owner objected to the compensation value awarded.
The need to address this challenge prompted the government in 2017 to table Constitution (Amendment) Bill 13/2017, which among other things, sought to give government powers to deposit compensation money in court and take over the land if the land owner disputed the compensation awarded. The proposal raised a storm in the country prompting its withdrawal in 2018 “pending further consultations”.

This notwithstanding, the challenges faced by government in time-bound infrastructural projects persist because at the moment, there is no solid statutory legislation operationalising Article 26 of the Constitution.
The current reform proposals by government, including the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act to harmonise it with Article 26, has raised a lot of questions countrywide, with no national consensus reached on the matter.

Underlying this contention is the mutual suspicion between citizens and the State, thus the low uptake of reforms. Where trust is broken and no efforts to repair the relations ensue, there can be no national development. The mixed messages in the public domain regarding the proposed reforms need to be resolved through a transparent discussion.
As such, it is urgent that stakeholders in Uganda hold a national dialogue on Compulsory Land Acquisition and related laws for the following reasons:

The dialogue will enable Ugandans make an informed choice on the way forward as well as encourage stakeholders to focus on public policy issues rather than personality or loyalties. The discussions will reduce the potential for violence by promoting civil discourse and help the contending sides to get their message out in places where one opinion has dominated the media environment.
The dialogue will further provide Ugandans with the rare opportunity to make a comparative analysis of the proposed laws based on the past and current experiences, challenges and best practices regarding compulsory land acquisition.

The dialogue will also help defuse political tension on issues of land in the country. It is equally important because the government will have an opportunity to make public commitments regarding the protection of sanctity of property, which is one of the most worrisome issues in the contemporary Uganda.
Ultimately, Ugandans will reach a national consensus on the requisite amendments to the land acquisition laws. With unanimity built, government will be in position to pursue its development agenda using its powers of eminent domain while at the same time respecting, upholding and fulfilling the land and property rights of citizens.

Mr Ochom works at LANDnet.
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