Nabakooba demands probe into fake titles on public land

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Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has directed security agencies to investigate, arrest ministry and district officials linked to fraudulent sale and illegal titling of government land.

This follows reports that officials at the Ministry of Lands, area land committees and some powerful individuals connive to facilitate illegal sale and titling of state land, which is transferred to private owners. 

Reports of such fraud cases were given during a workshop on the development of a comprehensive government land inventory held at Hotel Brovad in Masaka district on Tuesday, August 18.

 Delegates included:  district land officers, physical planners, staff surveyors, natural resources officers, Chief Administrative Officers, and LC5 chairpersons from 17 districts.

Several petitioners reported that officials at the Ministry of Lands facilitate the mysterious acquisition of government land by powerful private individuals.

Such cliques allegedly process certificates of title well knowing that the land belongs to government.

According to the officials, untitled government land and ecrages that have not been formally identified or documented by the responsible district and government departments are the most affected or vulnerable to illegal encroachment and acquisition.

Participants during the land inventory engagement in Masaka

Masaka City Mayor - Florence Namayanja revealed that usually the prominent, wealthy, and those who are highly connected politically deliberately identify and encroach on vital land such as forest reserves, wetlands, and other public land.

“They are untouchable because they use their influence to occupy this land. They intimidate district land authorities who try to intervene, which frustrates identification and documentation of state land,” she said.

Alex Kasibante, the Senior Land Management Officer for Kalangala district, also said that they lack security, facilitation, institutional protection and any other logistical support to confront the "powerful, wealthy, and ruthless land grabbers".

 In addition, John Kakande, the Masaka LC5 chairperson, told the minister that many powerful individuals, including impostors posing as officials from high-ranking government offices, deliberately encroach on forested land, clear trees and subsequently approach the National Forestry Authority (NFA) to claim the cleared land and then process private titles.

In response, Nabakooba directed that anyone implicated in these illegal procurements should be investigated and arrested. 

“This is deliberate connivance in the system to commit crime or offences. I therefore ask the district security teams to collaborate with Resident District Commissioners and take up this matter,” she said.

The minister instructed the local land security to arrest anyone grabbing government land regardless of their alleged connections to government or to high-ranking officials. “Just arrest and prosecute immediately. We should not tolerate wrongdoing under the cover of connections and influence,” she added.

For freehold titles that have been created on already occupied land, Nabakooba referred to the Land Act, saying priority should go to the sitting tenants and also tasked the district leaders with arbitrating the existing disputes and finding an amicable solution.

She further explained that Masaka district alone has 56 illegal titles on government land while Mpigi has 66 of such titles. “I am also wondering how these private titles were processed and mysteriously entered into the ministry’s official land registration system,” she stated.

The Ministry’s Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Mugunga, reported that losing government land affects urban planning and national development because wetlands, forests, and road reserves are illegally occupied.

Through the national land inventory exercise, the government should know the status of its land before the matter runs out of hand.

Tom John Fisher Kasenge, a commissioner at the Uganda Land Commission (ULC), said the comprehensive land inventory exercise will help identify government land, document its size, value, and initial purpose. “We are also looking at land occupied by government schools, hospitals, and barracks and vacant land,” he said.