Nabakooba encourages Ugandans to embrace customary land registration
The lands, housing and urban development minister Judith Nabakoba has urged customary land owners to embrace customary land registration which in her view would help to curtail the massive land grabbing across the country.
The minister made the call while officiating at the handover of 467 duty free customary titles to slum dwellers in Mbale city.
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The programme is part of a proactive bid to curb land grabbing and boundary conflict as envisaged in the National Slum Upgrading strategy and action plan of 2008.
80% of the land in Uganda is customarily owned yet the holders lack proper documentation that can act as a point of reference in case of a dispute. This is partly attributed to the bureaucracy and high fees involved in securing a freehold title which according to the Lands Housing and Urban Development minster Judith Nabakoba partly accounts for the massive land grabbing across the country.
However, such fears are a story of the past to the 467 slam dwellers in Mbale city following receipt of duty free customary land titles. While officiating at the handover of the titles, the minister noted that this is a land mark pre activity to the upcoming 60th independence celebration.
The UN Habitat for humanity, Global Land Tools Network funded Programme seeks to ensure tenure security for the vulnerable poor and special interest groups using fit-for purpose tools. “I am pleased to note that 52% of the beneficiaries are women”
The move is in line with the National Slum Upgrading strategy and action plan of 2008 that seeks to secure tenure rights for the urban poor, Mbale being the first city to implement the plan.
The minister urged customary land owner across the country to embrace the customary land titles adding that they offer the same legal tenure protection as the free hold tenure system, leave alone being cheap and easier to process.
“It is participatory in that the local leaders and community members participate through the entire process to ensure that clear boundaries are capture on the GPS which we normally call fit-for purpose, a pro-poor technology” added the minster.
The Constitution and the Land Act provide empowers government at city division level to register customary land and issue land certificates to customary land owners.
Sarah Mugeni, a resident of Sisye cell in Namatalla ward, expressed her joy adding that she was often discouraged by speculators who often told her that her plot is a road reserve, “I am extremely excited"
Nyanza Cell chairperson Sulaiman Waswaga, who was among the beneficiaries, says majority of the land owners shunned the programme fearing it might be a scam, which it is not.
