Over 8,000 to get customary land titles in Arua sub-county

ARUA - Arua district-based Logiri sub-county resident Quintino Miria is against communal land ownership, arguing that it has caused several unresolved land conflicts because a few individuals have taken advantage of vulnerable community members to register portions of their lands for themselves.

Miria also notes with concern that several people in the sub-county have lost their lands to land grabbers through encroachment.

“Some people grab their neighbours' lands by bribing members of the area land committee and some elders. Other people in Logiri sub-county lost their ancestral land in the late 1970s after they relocated to central Buganda and to other parts of the country in search of odd jobs, thus abandoning farming. In the process, some people took over their lands in the absence of the original land lords,” Miria revealed.

Night Ayikoru, a widow owning land in Cia’ba parish in Logiri sub-county, notes that with concern that her in-laws have been disturbing her over the land she acquired with her husband.

Ayikoru is among several other land owners in Logiri who are expected to cheaply acquire certificates of customary land ownership by paying the sum of shillings 10,000.

Jackson Agobia, another land Lord in Logiri, said security of tenure will enable them to practice agriculture on their lands without any hindrances.

“I thank the local government of Logiri for opening doors for the lands ministry and partners to come and sensitise us on the importance of land registration. We are securing these lands for our children and grandchildren,” Agobia noted.

Logiri chairperson John Bosco O’dama confirmed to New Vision Online that over 400 hectares of land in Lazebu parish are conflicted after the original owners were displaced either by war or had temporarily migrated to other parts of the country.

Land redistribution

John Bosco O’dama alleges that in 1974, the Government gave away some unoccupied lands, mainly in parts of Logiri, including at Lazebu parish, to some individuals to develop, but unfortunately, this made the original land owners become landless.

“These lands given by the Government to some individuals have now been titled by these powerful individuals to the disadvantage of the poor original landowners. Why can’t the Government make sure these lands revert to the original land lords because their ancestors owned these lands genuinely,” O’dama said.

According to O’dama, the 2024 census data shows that the population of Logiri has increased to over 50,000 in record time, necessitating the registration of lands to mitigate conflicts arising from the desire to own land for agriculture and other uses.

Significance 

To mitigate potential land conflicts in Logiri, the Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale farmers Forum (ESAFF) Uganda has embarked on a land rights campaign to create awareness on the significance of land tenure security.

ESAFF, together with the lands ministry, Action Aid and FIDA Uganda, conducted a two-day land camp in Logiri sub-county on September 24-25, 2025.

Stella Rose Akutui, the programme officer, policy and research at ESAFF Uganda, said the land camp is an innovation to reach out to the communities in Logiri under Oxfam Uganda-funded project: The Power of Partnership and Voices. Akutui said the land rights camps seek to address issues of limited information on land management, ease the processes of land registration and resolve rampant land conflicts, with some people taking the law into their hands.

Locals in Logiri pay for the land registration forms at the land camp.

Over 8000 people to receive CCO’s

To bolster security of tenure in Logiri, the ministry has partnered with ESAFF-Uganda to boost the land registration efforts by enabling genuine landowners in Logiri to acquire CCO’s at a paltry cost of shillings 10,000.

“Initially, our plan was to only provide 10 CCO’s to women households in Logiri.But the good news is that the lands ministry has provided an open cheque for the people of Logiri, with over 8000 people expected to acquire CCO’s at a cost of sh10,000,” Akutui appealed.

Akutui appealed to the communities to settle any existing disputes with their neighbours and other community members prior to the land registration process. She said residents are expected to fill in form one provided by the lands ministry now available at Logiri subcounty as an initial process leading to the acquisition of the CCO’s.

She said a time frame of one month has been given for the communities to pick the forms, fill in the requisite details and return to the subcounty for verification and commencement of the land titles processing.

Why issue the CCO’s?

Dennis Obbo, the spokesperson at the Ugandan Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, said the ministry’s sole purpose of issuing the CCO’s is to protect family lands from potential land conflicts.

“If you want to safeguard against illegal evictions, take advantage of this land registration process brought to your communities. We want to safeguard all the people who own land in Logiri subcounty. Many people have had several quarrels over the boundaries of their lands, so the purpose of this registration process is to plant boundary markers to enhance the land registration process,” Obbo emphasised.

 Cost of the certificate of customary Ownership (CCO)

Obbo said landowners shall acquire the form at shillings 5,000 and the certificate at 5,000, totalling 10,000.

He gave 10,000 to a woman who owns land in Logiri subcounty to flag off the process of picking the land registration forms to demonstrate the seriousness of the land tenure security initiative.

“What we want to protect is mainly family matrimonial lands from land grabbers and encroachers. I have heard that there is a lot of land grabbing in this community, and that’s the reason why we are here. If you want to safeguard against land evictions, you have got to ensure that your land is registered,” Obbo stressed.

While ESAFF and partners have subsidised the cost of acquiring customary land titles in Logiri to 10,000, it’s important to note that the minimum cost of acquiring a land title in Uganda is not less than shillings two million, depending on the size of the land.

Status of land registration in Uganda

According to the Uganda National Land Information System (UgNLIS), a digital platform designed to manage land registration, valuation, planning, and administration data across Uganda, over half a million freehold, leasehold, and mailo titles have been issued through the established 22 Ministry Zonal Offices (MZOs) across the country, including Arua in the West Nile region.

However, despite progress, many areas still face challenges related to land fragmentation, family breakdowns, high household poverty, environmental degradation, and high crime rates, as highlighted in the 2024 census report.

Impact of culture on women’s right to own land

Land rights activists have warned communities against taking advantage other people’s vulnerabilities to grab or deny them the opportunity to register lands in their names.

Rehema Minala,a legal officer at FIDA Uganda, has emphasised that the Constitution of 1995 (as amended) provides for equal opportunity and rights for women to own land.

“Any custom that contradicts the constitution is considered null and void under the Ugandan laws. If it comes to succession, women, just as men, can inherit land, including inheriting land from their parents. Some women have trusted their spouses to buy land for them, but in the end, their husbands exclude them and they end up losing their land after the men they trusted registered the lands in their names,” Minala revealed.

Minala noted with concern the growing cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV), especially economic violence caused by a lack of tenure security in the communities.

“Where the spouses can have joint ownership of land, but the control of what takes place on the land is in the hands of the man, has always caused GBV in the communities. Yet it would be a better practice for both the man and the woman to have both of their names appear on the land sale agreements,” Minala said.

Unreported land conflicts due to cultural barriers

Minala revealed that most women among the Lugbara communities are very low in reporting land conflicts due to a negative cultural custom known as “Aruba”.

She explained that “Aruuba” limits women from reporting a land conflict or any other conflict beyond a home setting under the guise that once a conflict is reported beyond the home setting it affects the children by making them fall sick.

“If you choose to go to FIDA, police or any other like-minded agencies whose work is to resolve land conflicts, they say it affects the children or eventually the children may die. Worst of all, you the complainant, will be expected to cleanse case by paying a fine to bring together people who are supposed to gather to resolve the conflict. The unfortunate thing is that it’s expensive for the woman to raise the required resources to convene the cleansing meeting”, Minala explained.

She notes that FIDA Uganda, together with other partners, are working hard to review some pronouncements by the Lugbara cultural institution that seek to correct some of these negative cultural practices.