Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has embarked on a move to reform land laws to counter the emerging land challenges in the country.
During the second national multi-stakeholder dialogue on responsible investment in land in Kampala on Wednesday, Ms Dorcas Okalany, the permanent secretary at the Lands ministry, said the new land law reforms will boost investment in the country.
“…We are also reforming most of our land related laws, i.e. the Land Act, the Land Acquisition Act, Registration of Land Titles, Survey Act, etc to be able to cater for the emerging issues,” Ms Okalany said in her remarks delivered for her by Mr Harrison Irumba, a senior official in the Lands ministry.
She added: “All these laws and others have an impact on land for investment, how it can be accessed, administered and managed. The ministry’s doors are open to everyone to bring ideas aimed at improving and enhancing tenure security.”
Ms Okalany said the outcomes and recommendations from the two-day dialogue will be crucial in informing the policy and legal frameworks that are being developed by the ministry.
Mr Daniel Kirumira, the senior adviser on Land matters at German International Cooperation (GIZ), said some of the old land laws were not technology compliant.
“Through the GIZ initiative, technology has been introduced in the ideal documentation of the occupancy including the capturing of coordinates, in one aspect, to be able to know for sure where the location of the kibanja right is vis-a-vis the location of the registered mailo right,” Mr Kirumira said.
“So this introduction of technology in the documentation rights as well as occupancy rights, is not specified or regulated in the current laws to give you an example and the ministry is looking at how to integrate the new initiatives using technology to document the coordinates into the legal framework,” he added.
The land policy, which was formulated in 2013, provides a frame work for managing land and land based resources in the country.
The policy has key provisions on promoting responsible land investment.
Most rural households in Uganda do not possess legal documents that prove their land rights. This poses high risks when it comes to land tenure security and threatens the livelihoods of the rural population, especially women and marginalised groups.
Land investors can take advantage of legal uncertainties and high corruption levels in the land sector and acquire land without recognition of existing land rights.
As a result, smallholders are often confronted with a shortage of resources, contributing to migration or displacement.
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