Seven years jail term for those who evict tenants
Dec 01, 2007
People who unlawfully evict tenants from registered land and customary land risk up to seven years in jail if the new land bill, endorsed by Cabinet on Wednesday, gets through Parliament.
BY Joyce Namutebi and Cyprian Musoke
People who unlawfully evict tenants from registered land and customary land risk up to seven years in jail if the new land bill, endorsed by Cabinet on Wednesday, gets through Parliament.
Occupants of Mailo land and land under customary tenure can only be evicted if they fail to pay ground rent and upon a court order, lands minister Omara Atubo explained yesterday.
“A person who attempts to evict, evicts or participates in an eviction of a lawful or bonafide occupant from registered land without an eviction order commits an offence liable to imprisonment not exceeding seven years,†he told the press at the Media Centre in Kampala.
Where there was damage during the eviction, the court may also order the culprit to pay compensation to the occupant, who will be entitled to regain his land.
The new land bill further proposes that where the District Land Board has not determined the annual nominal ground rent within six months after the enactment of the law, the rent may be determined by the minister.
“The rent payable shall be paid within one year after the minister has approved or determined the rentâ€, the proposed amendments state.
The proposed land act protects both the landlords and the tenants, the so-called Bibanja holders, from selling the land without giving the other the first option.
Both risk up to four years in jail and a fine, or both, if they are convicted of secretly selling the land, and the transaction will be declared invalid.
The punishment for trespassing will increase from a fine of sh500,000 and six month imprisonment, to sh1.9m and up to four years in jail.
“The law will not protect trespassers and squatters, as such persons must negotiate their rights directly with the land ownersâ€, the minister explained.
He added that the issue of cattle keepers, known as Balaalo, would be dealt with by another law. The issue of the 9,000 square miles, claimed by Buganda, is also not handled under the proposed amendments.
The minister emphasised that the proposed law was intended to address the serious problem of land evictions all over the country, and did not target Buganda land.
“We find these evictions inhuman so we have given no option of a fine. The amendments also apply to occupation under customary tenure, making the law national.â€
Asked for a reaction, Buganda Attorney General Apollo Makubuya said the government had not consulted them on the new amendments.
“We read through the initial recommendations and refused them because they were unconstitutional and would create more confusion than harmony,†he told Saturday Vision yesterday.
“We cannot comment on the new proposals because we have not received an official communication on what they contain,†he added.
He said they would continue sensitising the public in Buganda about the initial proposals until the new ones were communicated to them.
The initial amendments gave the lands minister powers to decide on the eviction of tenants and intervene to solve land wrangles.
The 1900 Buganda Agreement, drawn by the British, created landlords and landless peasants whose relationship has been antagonistic for over a century, causing many land disputes.
People who unlawfully evict tenants from registered land and customary land risk up to seven years in jail if the new land bill, endorsed by Cabinet on Wednesday, gets through Parliament.
Occupants of Mailo land and land under customary tenure can only be evicted if they fail to pay ground rent and upon a court order, lands minister Omara Atubo explained yesterday.
“A person who attempts to evict, evicts or participates in an eviction of a lawful or bonafide occupant from registered land without an eviction order commits an offence liable to imprisonment not exceeding seven years,†he told the press at the Media Centre in Kampala.
Where there was damage during the eviction, the court may also order the culprit to pay compensation to the occupant, who will be entitled to regain his land.
The new land bill further proposes that where the District Land Board has not determined the annual nominal ground rent within six months after the enactment of the law, the rent may be determined by the minister.
“The rent payable shall be paid within one year after the minister has approved or determined the rentâ€, the proposed amendments state.
The proposed land act protects both the landlords and the tenants, the so-called Bibanja holders, from selling the land without giving the other the first option.
Both risk up to four years in jail and a fine, or both, if they are convicted of secretly selling the land, and the transaction will be declared invalid.
The punishment for trespassing will increase from a fine of sh500,000 and six month imprisonment, to sh1.9m and up to four years in jail.
“The law will not protect trespassers and squatters, as such persons must negotiate their rights directly with the land ownersâ€, the minister explained.
He added that the issue of cattle keepers, known as Balaalo, would be dealt with by another law. The issue of the 9,000 square miles, claimed by Buganda, is also not handled under the proposed amendments.
The minister emphasised that the proposed law was intended to address the serious problem of land evictions all over the country, and did not target Buganda land.
“We find these evictions inhuman so we have given no option of a fine. The amendments also apply to occupation under customary tenure, making the law national.â€
Asked for a reaction, Buganda Attorney General Apollo Makubuya said the government had not consulted them on the new amendments.
“We read through the initial recommendations and refused them because they were unconstitutional and would create more confusion than harmony,†he told Saturday Vision yesterday.
“We cannot comment on the new proposals because we have not received an official communication on what they contain,†he added.
He said they would continue sensitising the public in Buganda about the initial proposals until the new ones were communicated to them.
The initial amendments gave the lands minister powers to decide on the eviction of tenants and intervene to solve land wrangles.
The 1900 Buganda Agreement, drawn by the British, created landlords and landless peasants whose relationship has been antagonistic for over a century, causing many land disputes.