No one is grabbing land from the IDPs

Dec 09, 2008

ON November 12, some Members of Parliament made statements in Parliament regarding land in Amuru district and investment by Madhvani Group of Companies for sugar industry, the summary of which is as follows:

By Omara Atubo

On November 12, some Members of Parliament made statements in Parliament regarding land in Amuru district and investment by Madhvani Group of Companies for sugar industry, the summary of which is as follows:

- That unscrupulous people are grabbing land of the people still living in IDP camps.

- The grabbing is in collusion with the Amuru District Land Board which is allocating the land while people are still living in camps;

- The Government has failed to protect the people from the land grabbers; and

- Amuru District Land Board is meeting to allocate land for investment of the sugar industry.

The Law:

Article 237 of the Constitution vests land in Uganda in the citizens of Uganda in accordance with the following Land Tenure Systems: Customary, freehold, mailo and leasehold.

Since land belongs to the people, its administration is therefore, decentralised.

Accordingly, article 240 of the Constitution provides that there shall be a district land board for each district and article 241 stipulates its functions as follows in Section 59 of the Land Act.

- To hold and allocate land in the district which is not owned by any person or authority.

- To facilitate the registration and transfer of interests in land;

- Take over the role and exercise the power of the lessor in the case of a lease granted by former controlling authority.

- Cause surveys, plans, maps, drawings and estimates to be made by or through its officers or agents;

- Compile and maintain a list of rates of compensation payable in respect of crops, buildings of a non permanent nature and any other thing that may be prescribed;

- Review every year the list of rates of compensation referred to in paragraphs of this subsection.

Section 60 of the Land Act provides that in the performance of its functions, a district land board shall be independent of the Uganda Land Commission and shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority but shall take into account national and district council policy on land and the particular circumstances of different systems of customary land tenure within the district.

The Procedure for allocation
Amuru District has an approved District Land Board.

If any persons company or institution wants to acquire land, it does so by applying to the District Land Board and not to the Central Government or its minister. In the particular case of investment by the Madhvani Sugar Works, I wish to inform the country as follows:

i) The Madhvani Group, like other applicants, formally applied to the District Land Board for allocation of 20,000 hectares of land in March. There were five other applicants.

ii) The District Land Board then forwarded the application to Amuru Sub-County Area Land Committee as required for verification and land inspection in October.

iii) The Area Land Committee conducted an inspection of the land in question on November 2.

iv) On November 10, the Sub-County Area Land committee compiled and submitted a report of their findings and recommendations to the District Land Board which strongly recommended for allocation.

v) The Committee found no permanent settlements and recommended that the applicants be offered the leases they have requested, as a way of making the area productive. They saw it as a way to generate income, employment, social infrastructural development and a potential source of revenue to the sub-county and the district in terms of premium and other payments.

The investments are also in line with Peace, Recovery and Development Plan. The committee strongly recommends the applicants for grant of leasehold.

As of now, Amuru District Land Board is yet to consider the findings before they approve or reject.

I want to bring to your attention that the land in question was a game reserve (public land) which was in 1975 under the Land Reform Decree de-gazetted for other land use purposes.

The land was then put under the management and control of Uganda Land Commission which gave lease offers to some people with some of the leases still running.

With the establishment of the District land Board the land referred to as public land is now managed and controlled by Amuru District Land Board.

Grabbing Land of IDPs
It is untrue that the district land board or anybody from the lands ministry is colluding to grab or allocate land of persons still living in camps. The information available from Amuru district is that some 50% of people have actually returned to their land but the return is rapidly increasing. However, if the Hon Members have any specific cases they can quote rather than making blanket statements, they should do so and the matter will be investigated and handled administratively by the Central Government and District

Land board
It is not legally possible for the Government to grab anybody’s land.

Apart from being unconstitutional and illegal, the Government would run into serious political problems if it were to do so. Furthermore, article 26 of the Constitution protects deprivation of property as follows:

- Every person has a right to own property either individually or in association with others.

- No person shall be compulsorily deprived of property or any interest in or right over property of any description except where:

- the taking of possession or acquisition is necessary for public use or in the interest of defence, public safely, public order, public morality or public health; and

- The compulsory taking of possession or acquisition of property is made under a law which makes provisions for:

- Prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation, prior to the taking of possession or acquisition of the property; and

- A right of access to a court of law by any person who has an interest or right over the property.

Land is the basic source of life for our people. It is also sensitive and emotional. I urge MPs as leaders, to handle land issues with objectivity. Failure to do so may end up in incitement and lawlessness.

The writer is the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development

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