Missing land titles delay rehabilitation of 121 govt secondary schools

________________

Government’s long-awaited rehabilitation of 121 secondary schools across the country is being hindered by the absence of land titles.

The commissioner for secondary education, Patrick Apecu, disclosed this on January 28, 2026, during an engagement with the House Committee on Education and Sports, chaired by Bunya East lawmaker James Kubeketerya (NRM).

The meeting was attended by the primary education state minister Joyce Moriku Kaducu, sports state minister Peter Ogwang, and the permanent secretary, Dr Kedrace Turyagenda.

Discussions centred on the Budget Framework Paper (BFP) for the 2026/27 financial year.

“The same challenge of land titles applies to traditional schools as well. The honourable minister and PS, with the Ministry of Finance, to see if we could get a waiver for the land titles. The 72 are actually schools that have already presented titles; the rest don’t have. You find a school has the same title with a church, hospital and with many other activities, and you can’t do much,” Apecu explained.

Kubeketerya questioned the logic behind the requirement, citing long-established institutions.

“A school like Busoga College Mwiri has existed for 120 years, do you still doubt renovating it and want a title? And the traditional schools are really well established,” he wondered.

He further noted what he described as contradictory conditions imposed by the Ministry of Finance.

“What we also heard is that the finance ministry puts certain conditionalities that are not given by the funders. Like USEEP (Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project), they never asked for a land title, but Finance says land title first, and the time goes,” Kubeketerya noted.

For context, USEEP is a government initiative funded by a $150 million World Bank loan, equivalent to sh536 billion. The project is aimed at building 116 new schools and expanding 61 existing ones to increase access to lower secondary education for underserved populations such as girls and refugees.

According to documents, the project became effective in May 2022 and was expected to close on December 31, 2005.

Ministry responds

However, Ogwang said the insistence on land titles was based on legal guidance.

“This was guidance we got from the Attorney General (AG) that, for purposes of ownership of all government projects, where government is investing capital money, it is important that titles be availed. If it is a considered opinion of some of us that some of this be waived off, then you begin those discussions,” Ogwang argued.

He added that the same principle applies to sports infrastructure projects, warning against the risks of investing public funds without clear ownership.

“It is for our own good to protect the specific project of government in that area. Because there is no way you can just come from nowhere to say let’s go and have this title changed,” Ogwang pointed.

Fort Portal city Woman MP Irene Linda Mugisa (NRM) said there was a need for clarity on which schools had met the requirements.

“Chair, also, we want to know, let him give us the schools that have met the criteria. He may not give it to us today, but he can submit and show us which schools have and don’t have land titles. A case in point, in my region, I have three traditional schools, and I am an interested party and a beneficiary. I have Nyakasura, Kyebambe and St. Leo’s College Kyegobe,” Mugisa appealed.