By: Ismael Kasooha

KAKUMIRO

The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Uganda Robinah Nabbanja has ordered the arrest of any area Land Committee chairpersons who will be found to have approved illegal surveying and titling of land.

Her order follows many complaints from the public that unscrupulous people were increasingly getting land titles on ‘bibanja’ without the consent of the occupants.

The Prime Minister (extreme right) with other Ministers during a consultative meeting in Kakumiro District on land matters

Nabbanja said the actions of some corrupt area Land Committee Chairpersons were hurting the Government and the people.

“If you approve the titling of land fraudulently, you should be held responsible, not the government,” the Prime Minister said. “These people are given little money to sanction titling of land at the expense of the unsuspecting members of the public. They should be arrested,”

She was speaking during a stakeholder meeting on land issues in Kakumiro Town last Friday. The Prime Minister noted that if the Land Committees were patriotic many land disputes would be avoided.

The Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Judith Nabakooba, said she had instructed all registrars and the zonal land officers to take a keen interest in the process of titling land to address the challenges raised by members of the public.

“Before producing a land title involving large chunks of land, they need to first visit the land and talk to authorities on the ground to ascertain the availability of such land and whether it is not encumbered,” Nabakooba said.

Hon. Fred Byamukama, the Minister of State for Transport, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bugangaizi West in Kakumiro District, said some land wrangles were being fuelled by those who claim to have obtained lease offers on the land owned by Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom (BKK), especially in Nalweyo and Kakindo.

Some of this land, he added, hosts some of the public institutions like Health Centres and Sub-counties. Alex Katusabe, the administrator in BKK, who represented BKK’s Prime Minister, Andrew Byakutaga, said the Kingdom had not leased its land to anyone in these areas.

Hon. Janefer Namuyangu, the Minister of State for Bunyoro Affairs, said that the land issues in Bunyoro sub-region need to be resolved urgently to facilitate socio-economic transformation.

END