Fight against crime commendable, but do more on land fraud

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OPINION

By Festo Kasajja

On March 30 2026, police released a well-detailed annual crime report for the year 2025, which recorded the crime trend in the country. I read the report well and observed that in all different areas, types of crimes reduced by 10.2 % as compared to the previous years, apart from land cases, which kept on increasing regardless of government intervention.

The reduction in different crimes was attributed to enhanced policing strategies. The report revealed that police improved in their investigative capacity, rolled out its sub-county policing model, digitalisation of systems, community engagement and many others.

These strategies yielded some results of a decrease in crimes by 10.2 %. My concern as a businessman in town, dealing in land and real estate, is the persisting increase in land-related crimes.

The crime report showed that a total of 663 cases of land fraud in 2025 were reported to police, compared to 397 cases reported in 2024, which indicated an increase in land cases by 67%.

This increase in land cases is a big signal that all the interventions by police strategies and government policies are not adequately yielding positive results in this area.  The state minister for lands, Dr Sam Mayanja, has tried to save bibanja owners, but a lot more needs to be done.

On increasing land cases, I propose to the Government, specifically the 12th Parliament that is coming in this May, to make amendments to the Land Act.

Let special land titles, which land officials issue when one has lost a mother title, be abolished, or the process be reviewed for tightening, because it is being abused. When one wants to steal someone’s land, they just move into the land ministry and apply for a special title. In less than a month, he/she receives it.  Most of the landowners do not follow the court.  I am a victim of this. My land in Kisenyi has three special titles plus the mother title, which I have. I placed adverts in newspapers, and I am in court battling those who acquired special titles on my land, yet all those titles come from one office, the land ministry!

The law on land/bibanja evictions also needs amendment. Nobody is allowed to evict any kibanja owner who is found on the land before buying their interests. In case one buys land with bibanja owners and forcefully evicts them, his land title should be removed from such a person and given to the bibanja owners as a punishment for violating land laws on bibanja owners.

My land case has lasted for nine years now without any justice, and I do not know the time it will take for me to get justice. Many have similar land cases, which have lasted for 10 years or more, but why? Justice delayed is justice denied. Can I take it that it is intended by the courts to deliberately delay land cases?  Let there be a law requiring a specific period within which land cases should be heard, just like it is the case with political petitions, which last for only six months. This will reduce corruption, the public outcry, and relieve the police of the accumulated land cases pending court hearing.

Land evictions in the country are rampant. When you read newspapers, listen to the radio, and watch television, the cases are many. My humble plea is, let the land laws be amended to stop the public outcry.  

The writer is a businessman and director Kasajja and Sons Emporium Limited