Deo Kalikumutima
I n recent days, some media house has been awash with information, disinformation if I may say, to the effect that foreigners can own land in Uganda under freehold tenure. However, that position is diametrically opposed to the position of the law at present. Article 237(2) (c) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda is to the effect that non-citizens / foreigners can only own land in Uganda under leasehold tenure.
This constitutional provision is reinforced by Section 40 of the Land Act, Cap 236, which expressly prohibits non-citizens from acquiring land under freehold, mailo, or customary tenure. The law is couched in mandatory terms, implying that non-citizens / foreigners are legally barred from owning land under any other tenure, apart from leasehold. Section 7 of the Land Act, Cap. 236 defines a ‘non-citizen’ in such broad terms, as a person who is not a citizen of Uganda as defined by the Constitution and the Uganda Citizenship Act, now the Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act, Cap. 313. In the case of a corporate body, a corporate body in which the controlling interest lies with non-citizens. In the case of bodies where shares are not applicable, where the body’s decision making lies with non-citizens; a company in which the shares are held in trust for non-citizens; a company incorporated in Uganda whose articles of association do not contain a provision restricting transfer or issue of shares to noncitizens.
Controlling interest is defined; in the case of companies with shares, the majority shares are held by persons who are not citizens; and in the case of companies without shares, a company in which decisions are arrived at by the majority of members who are not citizens. Moreover, for one to be a Ugandan citizen, he/she must gain it by birth, through registration or by naturalisation in consonance. Additionally, an individual can hold Ugandan citizenship alongside that of another country. This became possible following the enactment of the Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act, Cap 313, and the amendment of Article 15 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda. Under this framework, a Ugandan citizen aged 18 or above can acquire another nationality without losing Ugandan citizenship. Similarly, foreigners whose countries
allow dual citizenship may apply for Ugandan citizenship. Section 19 of Act as amended and Regulation 10 (1) of the Uganda Citizenship Regulations, require such individuals to register as dual citizens in Uganda. If a Ugandan renounces citizenship, they are legally required to convert freehold land to leasehold by applying to the relevant district land board or the former registered proprietor if the land is mailo/freehold.
The board evaluates the application, and upon compliance, the applicant is issued a leasehold certificate of title. Once dual citizenship is acquired, the individual regains eligibility to own freehold land in Uganda. This aligns with Uganda’s constitutional and statutory provisions regulating land tenure and citizenship. By and large, the question of non-citizens owning land in Uganda under freehold tenure has been traversed over the years, in a myriad of land legal regimes, all the way from the 1903 Crown Land Ordinance and the 1908 Crown Land Ordinance Rules, to the 1975 Land Reform Decree and now, under the 1995 Constitution. Colonial laws like the 1903 Crown Land Ordinance envisaged freehold land ownership by non-natives like missionaries and churches, for whom it was necessary to own land in perpetuity.
The 1969 Public Lands Act required such interests to be created only with the consent of the Minister. The 1975 Land Reform Degree converted all land in Uganda into public land and any individual interests were so held as leases from government. Ultimately, the 1998 Land Act, now Cap. 236 stipulates in section 40 (5), that any noncitizen who immediately before the coming into force of the Constitution held land as lessee on conversion within the meaning of the 1975 Land Reform Decree, is deemed to have continued to hold a lease for 99 years from the first day of June, 1975.
