By Joseph Kimbowa

It is quite intriguing how Ugandans prefer simplistic transactions. It is uncommon for someone to buy a mobile phone, television set or a computer without asking for its receipt.

They even use the lack of a receipt to buy cheaply, calling it a product got on a ‘deal’! Some take it a notch higher and buy cars without requesting for its logbook and drive it for years without doing the necessary transfers.

This simplistic but careless lifestyle has even crept into land transactions, especially in Buganda region where land has multiple interests.

While Ugandan land laws clearly stipulate that a Kibanja holder must first inform and seek consent of the landowner before transferring their kibanja interest to another, almost all transactions on bibanja are done without involving landowners.

What usually happens is that people just identify a buyer, go to the area LC-I chairperson, draft and sign agreements; and that is it!

This is not only against the law, it is also unfair to the landowner who is entitled to annual nominal ground rent. It is also risky to the purchaser as they stand to lose not just their money but the Kibanja too.

It is no wonder that sometimes landowners do the same by selling off huge chunks of land occupied by bonafide occupants without their knowledge.

We have created a man-eat-man society in the end!

Section 34 (1) of the Land Act clearly provides that a tenant by occupancy (kibanja holder) must first get the approval of the landowner before transacting on the said land. It notes thus: ‘A tenant by occupancy may, in accordance with the provisions of this section, assign, sublet or sub-divide the tenancy with the consent of the landowner.’

Resultantly, we live in a chaotic society characterized by land wrangles, evictions, threats and even murders. Speculators and politicians have thus used this state of affairs to disenfranchise the poor and propose repressive land laws respectively.

But not all is doom. Buganda Land Board, for example, has shown us that we can all live in harmony if we appreciated each other through a proper land management system. For 30 years, Buganda Land Board has created an organized land management structure that has included massive registration and survey of tenants on Kabaka’s land.

This created the first-ever kibanja holders’ database in Uganda, which is even being benchmarked by the government and other countries. This has significantly erased land wrangles on kingdom land because the landowner and tenants are in sync and understand their obligations.

All people registered with BLB receive a certificate of occupancy, similar to the one dispensed by the government to people on public land; this certificate clearly shows plot boundaries, neighbours and acreage of ones kibanja.

They clearly know that they have a minimum obligation of paying a nominal annual ground rent of no more than Shs 50,000; and they pay it without being forced. They further know that whenever they want to change ownership of their land, there is a formal transfer process where their file name with the landowner is changed into the names of the new owner

Yes, it is true that most people are comfortable with conducting transactions using local council leaders. But it is at best foolhardy for them to forget the landowner. The old Baganda culture recognized this and bibanja holders would even surrender a percentage of their produce to the landlord every planting season as sign of respect to the landowner. This custom was called Envujjo. Even during transfer of ownership, they would give the landowner a token of appreciation in what was called ‘ekkanzu’.

So, why have we killed this culture? How hard is it to inform your landlord before changing ownership of your kibanja? What is wrong with you being known to your landlord. If you cannot pay your first house rent dues before meeting the landlord, why do you want to buy a kibanja without meeting the landowner? Why do we always want to do everything through a ‘deal’.

The author is the Team Leader, Communications at Buganda Land Board