By Bahemuka Thomas Mukula
Africa-Press – Uganda. Anne owns a plot in Jomayi estate, Kitagobwa in Wakiso district. She kept seasonal crops on a plot adjacent to her home to keep wild bushes away, as the owner had never surfaced for the 8 years she resided in the estate. One evening, she returns to find brokers pointing at the plot. On interaction, they indicated to her that the plot was for sale and presented her with a copy of the title.
A search at the land office was undertaken, and results returned; an appointment was set to meet the owner at a lawyer’s office for payment. The “owner” showed up in time with details on the title and National ID tallying with those on the search report. Unknown to Anne, the lady she was paying Shs40,000,000 to wasn’t the real owner but an impersonator who forged the land title that she was handing over and forged a national ID to read the names at the land office, but fixed with the fraudster’s photo!
This we only realised when the title we presented for transfer at Wakiso land office was declared a fake one, we tried to contact our vendors, and all their contacts were off!
As we were recovering from that shock, a friend in real estate showed up with a title and “open transfer forms” signed by the registered proprietor, together with National ID and passport photo! She had bought from a lady who also had an agreement with the lady registered in title to a plot in Buwaga, also in Wakiso district. This friend resides in Buwaga. I had no doubts she knew about the plot very well since she was the broker for the developer of that estate. I searched for the title and made a payment of Shs 25,000,000=. I immediately presented my title and transfer forms to the land office, from which the title was declared a forgery as the signatures on it weren’t consistent.
That left me with questions;
How many Ugandans are suffering quietly at these frauds?
How do fraudsters access accurate details relating to these vacant plots in estates?
How do we enhance security features on land titles?
Magnitude of the fraud.
Both the above cases were reported to the Police, trackers were engaged, and not much was achieved other than the victims losing more money. We found several people looking for the same fraudsters who had hit us.
Generally, Ugandans are not quick to transfer titles to parcels that they purchase. It is only at transfer that a test on your title is undertaken to confirm authenticity. I therefore believe that many are holding dearly onto worthless titles, building onto plots that aren’t theirs. The importance of transferring of title cannot be overemphasised.
Access to land information.
The details on the fake titles accurately correspond to details relating to a particular parcel of land in the land office. The national ID and passport photo tally with those provided by the registered proprietor in the land office. For the frauds mentioned above, the actual registered proprietors were ladies employed in busy offices who had little time to visit their plots over the years and had no idea that they had been impersonated.
This left us with one suspect, the custodians of our data records in the Land Information System! Is there an audit trail of how different information is accessed from the system? An audit of who accessed which information and for which purposes? Categorising of system to users can only access information that they need for their day-to-day roles?
If the country is to counter these frauds, it has to manage the LIS in the same way banks generously guard their client information and balances. You will hardly find a bank client’s details floating around the street the way it is for land information.
Integrity of land titles.
Land markets are anchored on the integrity of land titles and the land information systems. The Ministry of Lands ought to enhance security features on land titles to make it very difficult to compromise. The bar codes on the current titles can be read off a photocopy! It cannot be that every land buyer shall first visit the land office to confirm the authenticity of a title before transacting, as the land search alone is no longer adequate. Efforts should he taken to enhance security features on the title deed.
Bahemuka Thomas Mukula is a Businessman and student of Land Management at Makerere.
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