Museveni receives interim report on land probe

PIC: President Museveni recieving a report from Bamugemereire

LAND | REPORT

President Yoweri Museveni has received an interim report from the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters in Uganda.

According to the press release from State House, the commission's chairperson, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, handed over the report to the President during a meeting held on at Kawumu presidential demonstration farm in Luwero district on Thursday.

The interim report constitutes an update to the President on the progress of the inquiry after seven months into the probe. 

In 2016, Museveni constituted a commission of inquiry after rampant land evictions and complaints that he had received from the public. The Commission was tasked with looking into the effectiveness of the law and processes of land acquisition, administration, management and registration in Uganda.

While handing over the report, Bamugamereire said the  public response to the commission has been overwhelming.

The Commission has clocked 120 days of public hearings, received 4,900 complaints, listened to 287 of these and reviewed 600.

"This shows that the significance of land to the economy of Uganda cannot be underestimated. Land relates to agriculture, which is the bedrock of the Ugandan economy," she said.

The interim report recommends a number of actions for the government to adopt. They include the restructuring and amalgamating of various government agencies into two bodies; land authority and conservation agency.

The report also seeks to enlist government agencies for help to the Commission to implement the issues they have worked on.

The President thanked the commission for giving him an assessment on land problems in Uganda and for coming up with recommendations for the Government to adapt.

"Land will now start being a real factor of production. This is a historical moment because there has been no other commission since the 1924 commission that was appointed by Governor Mitchell. The difference is that the other was simply a commission of inquiry. But, this is a judicial commission. If you commit perjury, you can get seven years in jail," Museveni is quoted to have said.

The President said he would appoint senior Police officers and lawyers to work with the commission so as to implement what the probe team has been working on. He added that the Government would discuss the recommendations in the report when the final report is submitted in May.

"The recommendations will come to Cabinet through a white paper and the public will then be informed about the adaptations," he said.