Why Buganda opposes changes to the Land Act
Nov 14, 2007
BUGANDA'S Attorney General, Apollo Makubuya, last week summed up the kingdom’s perception of the proposed amendments to the Land Act: “The Government is scheming to steal our land with the new land policy,†he told a special session of the Lukiiko. Subsequently, the Lukiiko decided to oppose m
by Joshua Kato
BUGANDA'S Attorney General, Apollo Makubuya, last week summed up the kingdom’s perception of the proposed amendments to the Land Act: “The Government is scheming to steal our land with the new land policy,†he told a special session of the Lukiiko. Subsequently, the Lukiiko decided to oppose most of the amendments and held a big rally at Mengo to “educate†people about the proposed changes.
“They want to take away our land. They are destroying the institution of the Sabataka,†Makubuya said. His words were echoed by speaker after speaker at Mengo.
The minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Omara Atubo, says the amendments are intended to stop unlawful evictions of tenants. Most evictions in the last few years have occurred in Buganda, particularly in Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso districts.
“Arising out of the public outcry, the Government intends to amend the Land Act to enhance the security of occupancy of the lawful and bonafide occupants by protecting them from rampant evictions,†Atubo says. He adds that the amendments are also intended to criminalise unlawful evictions and the actions of those who participate in, aid and abate them.
President Museveni accuses magistrates and the police, among others, of conniving with landlords to evict tenants.
Another objective of the amendments is to ease the issuance of certificates of occupancy and to determine the annual ground rent payable by a tenant where District Land Boards fail to do so.
The proposed new definition of a bonafide tenant is one who has settled on a piece of land for more than 12 years irrespective of whether or not the Land Lord consented to the occupation. This differs from the current definition where a bonafide tenant should have settled on the land with the consent of the owner, and has been there for 12 years. Mengo officials allege that this clause intends to legalise occupation by many people who settled in Buganda illegally.
“They want to settle their people here on Buganda’s land. We cannot allow it,†says a member of the Baganda Nkobazambogo, a group of Baganda youth in institutions of higher learning. However, even Baganda will benefit from this clause as the majority of them are bonafide tenants.
The amendments also aim at removing powers of deciding land cases from formal courts and vest them in the office of the minister for lands and RDCs. Previously, complaints would be taken to the courts of law or the District Land Tribunals. On most occasions they were decided in favour of landlords.
Most tenants are poor and they are often evicted after failing to buy, from the landlords, reversionary interests in the land they occupy. It is proposed that the minister shall have powers to award titles or certificates of occupancy to tenants if the landlord fails to issue it in six months after the Land Board has approved the issuing of such certificates. Mengo contends that this provision erodes the powers of the landlords. “This is abominable. It makes somebody who toiled to acquire land powerless. Such powers should not be given to the minister. It should be the landlord to give away his land. Nobody should have powers to give away another person’s land,†says Kooki MP, Edward Magulumaali, one of those selected by Mengo to “fight†for Buganda’s land rights.
Before a tenant goes to the Minister, he should have been to the landlord, the land tribunals and the courts. The minister is a last resort.
It is proposed that a tenant gets powers to sell the piece of land he occupies (kibanja) without the consent of the landlord, and that if he is stopped, he should report/appeal to the minister. This, according to landlords, would deny them control over their property. “This takes away the pride of being a landlord. It affects the institution of the Sabataka,†says Medard Lubega, the Mengo minister for information.
Another proposed amendment is that no tenant should be evicted unless he has failed to pay the mandatory sh1,000 rent (Busuulu). The eviction must be backed by a court order. The eviction would have to be approved by the minister for lands before it is effected. After the issuance of the eviction order, the tenant will have at least six months to vacate the land.
One of the points of contention between landlords and the Government has been the amount paid as Busuulu. Landlords saw sh1,000 as too little. It is proposed that the amount be raised to reflect the value of land.
Although Mengo opposes many of the proposed amendments, it has not come up with measures to stop evictions, yet most of the victims are Baganda being evicted by Baganda landlords. One of the largest evictions this year was in Nangabo on land that formerly belonged to Sir Apollo Kaggwa.
After the 1900 Buganda Agreement, only the Baganda had mailo land titles in Buganda. These later sold or gave out pieces of their land to others. “Many of the people we refer to as basenze (squatters) were invited to this land by us. Through the years, many of them have bought land and they own it,†says former finance minister Gerald Sendawula.
Although Mengo dreads the rate at which non-Baganda are acquiring land in Buganda, it has not found ways of stopping Baganda from selling their land. Some of the most respected property managers, such as Jomayi Properties Ltd, advertise their services on Central Broadcasting Services, Mengo’s mouthpiece. The property dealers sell land to both Baganda and non-Baganda, including tribes accused of grabbing Buganda’s land. There are mainly three land tenure systems in Buganda. These are Maio land, public land (9,000 miles) and leasehold. However, most of the evictions have been carried out on Maio land.
According to the 1900 Agreement between Buganda and the protectorate government, 8,000 acres were given out to 1,000 chiefs of Buganda and a few private land owners.
Mailo land tenure is also found in parts of Kibaale in the so-called ‘lost counties’. In parts of Toro and Ankole, a similar system named Native Freehold was established in some areas.
The creation of Mailo land created two classes in Buganda: the landlords and the landless. This meant that all those people who lived on the 8,000 square miles were turned into tenants. Over the years, the grandsons of the Mailo landowners have sold parts of the land to other people. Gradually, the 1,000 titles have become thousands.
Mailo tenure encourages developments on land more than any other tenure. Because Mailo land owners have total control over their land, they are likely to carry out developmental projects compared to other tenure systems. For example, because one has a title, the land can easily be used as collateral in a bank for loans. Consequently, most developments in Uganda are in areas that have freehold and Mailo land tenure systems. However, if the Mailo holder has no money to invest on it and is not willing to sell it, the land remains unutilised. Evictions have become common in the last 20 years because the value of land has gone up. A small piece of land costs up to sh50m-sh100m in residential suburbs of Kampala and Wakiso, and billions in the central business district.
The writer is a journalist
BUGANDA'S Attorney General, Apollo Makubuya, last week summed up the kingdom’s perception of the proposed amendments to the Land Act: “The Government is scheming to steal our land with the new land policy,†he told a special session of the Lukiiko. Subsequently, the Lukiiko decided to oppose most of the amendments and held a big rally at Mengo to “educate†people about the proposed changes.
“They want to take away our land. They are destroying the institution of the Sabataka,†Makubuya said. His words were echoed by speaker after speaker at Mengo.
The minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Omara Atubo, says the amendments are intended to stop unlawful evictions of tenants. Most evictions in the last few years have occurred in Buganda, particularly in Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso districts.
“Arising out of the public outcry, the Government intends to amend the Land Act to enhance the security of occupancy of the lawful and bonafide occupants by protecting them from rampant evictions,†Atubo says. He adds that the amendments are also intended to criminalise unlawful evictions and the actions of those who participate in, aid and abate them.
President Museveni accuses magistrates and the police, among others, of conniving with landlords to evict tenants.
Another objective of the amendments is to ease the issuance of certificates of occupancy and to determine the annual ground rent payable by a tenant where District Land Boards fail to do so.
The proposed new definition of a bonafide tenant is one who has settled on a piece of land for more than 12 years irrespective of whether or not the Land Lord consented to the occupation. This differs from the current definition where a bonafide tenant should have settled on the land with the consent of the owner, and has been there for 12 years. Mengo officials allege that this clause intends to legalise occupation by many people who settled in Buganda illegally.
“They want to settle their people here on Buganda’s land. We cannot allow it,†says a member of the Baganda Nkobazambogo, a group of Baganda youth in institutions of higher learning. However, even Baganda will benefit from this clause as the majority of them are bonafide tenants.
The amendments also aim at removing powers of deciding land cases from formal courts and vest them in the office of the minister for lands and RDCs. Previously, complaints would be taken to the courts of law or the District Land Tribunals. On most occasions they were decided in favour of landlords.
Most tenants are poor and they are often evicted after failing to buy, from the landlords, reversionary interests in the land they occupy. It is proposed that the minister shall have powers to award titles or certificates of occupancy to tenants if the landlord fails to issue it in six months after the Land Board has approved the issuing of such certificates. Mengo contends that this provision erodes the powers of the landlords. “This is abominable. It makes somebody who toiled to acquire land powerless. Such powers should not be given to the minister. It should be the landlord to give away his land. Nobody should have powers to give away another person’s land,†says Kooki MP, Edward Magulumaali, one of those selected by Mengo to “fight†for Buganda’s land rights.
Before a tenant goes to the Minister, he should have been to the landlord, the land tribunals and the courts. The minister is a last resort.
It is proposed that a tenant gets powers to sell the piece of land he occupies (kibanja) without the consent of the landlord, and that if he is stopped, he should report/appeal to the minister. This, according to landlords, would deny them control over their property. “This takes away the pride of being a landlord. It affects the institution of the Sabataka,†says Medard Lubega, the Mengo minister for information.
Another proposed amendment is that no tenant should be evicted unless he has failed to pay the mandatory sh1,000 rent (Busuulu). The eviction must be backed by a court order. The eviction would have to be approved by the minister for lands before it is effected. After the issuance of the eviction order, the tenant will have at least six months to vacate the land.
One of the points of contention between landlords and the Government has been the amount paid as Busuulu. Landlords saw sh1,000 as too little. It is proposed that the amount be raised to reflect the value of land.
Although Mengo opposes many of the proposed amendments, it has not come up with measures to stop evictions, yet most of the victims are Baganda being evicted by Baganda landlords. One of the largest evictions this year was in Nangabo on land that formerly belonged to Sir Apollo Kaggwa.
After the 1900 Buganda Agreement, only the Baganda had mailo land titles in Buganda. These later sold or gave out pieces of their land to others. “Many of the people we refer to as basenze (squatters) were invited to this land by us. Through the years, many of them have bought land and they own it,†says former finance minister Gerald Sendawula.
Although Mengo dreads the rate at which non-Baganda are acquiring land in Buganda, it has not found ways of stopping Baganda from selling their land. Some of the most respected property managers, such as Jomayi Properties Ltd, advertise their services on Central Broadcasting Services, Mengo’s mouthpiece. The property dealers sell land to both Baganda and non-Baganda, including tribes accused of grabbing Buganda’s land. There are mainly three land tenure systems in Buganda. These are Maio land, public land (9,000 miles) and leasehold. However, most of the evictions have been carried out on Maio land.
According to the 1900 Agreement between Buganda and the protectorate government, 8,000 acres were given out to 1,000 chiefs of Buganda and a few private land owners.
Mailo land tenure is also found in parts of Kibaale in the so-called ‘lost counties’. In parts of Toro and Ankole, a similar system named Native Freehold was established in some areas.
The creation of Mailo land created two classes in Buganda: the landlords and the landless. This meant that all those people who lived on the 8,000 square miles were turned into tenants. Over the years, the grandsons of the Mailo landowners have sold parts of the land to other people. Gradually, the 1,000 titles have become thousands.
Mailo tenure encourages developments on land more than any other tenure. Because Mailo land owners have total control over their land, they are likely to carry out developmental projects compared to other tenure systems. For example, because one has a title, the land can easily be used as collateral in a bank for loans. Consequently, most developments in Uganda are in areas that have freehold and Mailo land tenure systems. However, if the Mailo holder has no money to invest on it and is not willing to sell it, the land remains unutilised. Evictions have become common in the last 20 years because the value of land has gone up. A small piece of land costs up to sh50m-sh100m in residential suburbs of Kampala and Wakiso, and billions in the central business district.
The writer is a journalist