Africa-Press – Uganda. The Uganda Land Commission (ULC) has warned that powerful politicians illegally occupying public land will not be spared as government tightens land management and rolls out reforms inspired by practices in Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia.
The warning was issued at the launch of the Government Land Inventory System, a nationwide initiative aimed at documenting all public land, identifying encroachment and strengthening accountability in land administration.
ULC Commissioner Tom John Fisher Kasenge said political influence has for years shielded some individuals from scrutiny, undermining protection of government land and denying the state critical revenue.
“Government is not going to remain silent about people who have encroached on government land. No one will be pardoned, including powerful politicians, if they are found to have illegally taken over public land,” Kasenge said.
Kasenge said the reforms follow a regional benchmarking exercise intended to study how other countries manage public land, enforce compliance and generate revenue.
“Benchmarking is intended to find out how others are doing the same work and what best practices we can learn from them, including challenges they have overcome and strategies we can apply should similar challenges arise in Uganda,” he said.
He said one of the key lessons came from Ghana, where landholders, including those occupying government land, are required to pay tax.
“In Ghana, people who have land pay tax. Here in Uganda, even the small section of people holding leases on government land have largely not been paying. That is a serious gap in government revenue generation,” Kasenge said.
He added that while introducing such measures would require policy direction, the recommendations have already been compiled and submitted for consideration.
The commission also drew lessons from Kenya and Ethiopia, where national land commissions manage all land, allowing governments to implement major infrastructure projects with fewer ownership disputes.
“In Kenya, the National Land Commission manages all land in the country. That is one of the reasons they can undertake major infrastructure projects like roads without the challenges we face here, where land ownership remains fragmented,” Kasenge said.
In Uganda, ULC manages only government land, a limitation that often complicates public projects due to encroachment and disputes.
Kasenge said the Ministry of Lands is working on broader reforms that could address these challenges, with some recommendations expected to be implemented in the near future.
“I believe major land reforms are being worked on by the ministry. We are waiting for policy proposals that will guide improvements in land management,” he said.
ULC Secretary Andrew Nyumba said the Government Land Inventory System will cover every district and involve stakeholder identification, surveying, valuation and digital mapping.
“Inventory is a process, and it involves going to every district in this country,” Nyumba said, adding that stakeholder identification is already underway.
He said surveying will be conducted in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner for Surveys and Mapping, which will determine boundaries, identify encroachment and establish which parcels are titled or untitled.
“They will be able to identify land that is government land, land that is titled, and tell us if it is encroached and by how much,” Nyumba said.
Untitled land, he added, will be surveyed to allow issuance of titles, while valuation will be handled by the Office of the Chief Government Valuer to determine the worth of land and developments.
The inventory will also capture zoning and land-use information through the Office of the Commissioner for Physical Planning, as well as spatial data using geographic information systems, including coordinates and aerial imagery.
ULC said the inventory is critical for safeguarding public land, improving planning and plugging revenue leakages as government moves to enforce land reforms.
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