Govt to register Anglican Church land

The government through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is set to register and issue land titles and customary certificates of ownership on land belonging to the Church of Uganda.
Under this new arrangement, the Church has been tasked to establish a team that will work with a team from the Lands ministry to identify all the land without titles from different dioceses across the country.

“I have briefed my permanent secretary and the technical team. I think this is the time to help churches register their land. We will request of you one thing; have your trustees regularly updated and make annual returns for those trustees,” Lands minister Judith Nabakooba said Tuesday.
The minister made the revelation while presiding over a three-day retreat of 40 bishops from the 39 dioceses that make up the Church of Uganda at Lweza Training and Conference Centre in Wakiso District.

“Archbishop, I request you to give me a team from your side and I will also get a technical team to help work with your people to see how they can have the land registered,” Ms Nabakooba said.
She also asked the House of Bishops to make use of the zonal land officers in their regions to handle related land matters.

“Each district has a staff surveyor and the ministry zonal offices have senior staff surveyors and principal staff surveyors. We have seen instances where people register land in their names as individuals yet this is Church land. The people who do this might have good intentions, but when they are no more, their families can claim that property,” she said.
The minister also advised churches to register all bonafide tenants on their land to enable them deal with the rampant land grabbing and fraud.

“Register bibanja (untitled land) holders to avoid other squatters from settling on the land because, without a register, a loophole is created for squatters to also settle on the same land and claim they have been there for 30 years. If such claims are put across, it is very difficult to defend them,” Ms Nabakooba said. 
Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu said the Anglican Church has been a victim of land grabbers because some of the land is not titled.
“Some of those who generously donated land did it in good spirit without titles or agreements,” he said. 

He reminded the government of the pledge made four years ago to have the issue of St Peter’s Church in Ndeeba resolved and have their church rebuilt.
“We are so happy that the government intervened on the Ndeeba church issue but it is yet to fulfill the pledge made by the President,” he said.