THE SAVAGE attack on three government surveyors by villagers highlights the rather common lack of coordination that afflicts many official operations.

A team of six was surveying land in Kamuda, Soroti, when a mob of about 200 attacked it, accusing them of planning to grab the land.

Yet this was part of an officially sanctioned exercise, a pilot project aimed at streamlining land tenure that has been carried out in Masaka and Ntungamo as well. Under this World Bank funded programme, the less privileged of the rural countryside are meant to get land titles with ease.

While a local official has claimed that sensitisation had been done through the publication of literature, this, evidently, was not enough.

Land is a very sensitive issue with Ugandans, so a more comprehensive approach — public rallies, LC meetings, house-to-house visits, proper timing — is needed.

There is a delicate issue on the table in the Cabinet White Paper on the Constitutional Review Commission’s report. The government is proposing compulsory acquisition of land for investment. This is fine in itself, but it must be handled very sensitively, which is why extensive debate and publicity is critical.

Very few Ugandans understand land tenure. Land is owned in four tenure systems — customary, freehold, mailo and leasehold — but not many know what applies where and to whom.

Because it is the primary unit of wealth, whether in urban or rural settings, land needs to be given its due recognition.

The Soroti, Masaka, Ntungamo project is a noble one, and the lands ministry should not be unduly discouraged by the Soroti attacks. Rather we should all learn our lessons from it and avoid deadly mistakes.