500, 000 land titles converted into digital copies

By Alfred Wandera

A total of 500, 000 land titles have so far been converted into digital copies by the Land ministry's computerised Land Information System (LIS), marking a milestone in attaining efficiency and effectiveness in the Land Registry.

This marks 80% of the whole old land data stock, according to Richard Oput, the Coordinator Land Sector Reforms in the Land Ministry.

In addition, 16, 500 maps have been digitalized and geo-referenced to allow for survey data to be located in their correct geographical position on the system.

Commissioner Land Registration in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Sarah Kulata, on Tuesday said this  has been done in the first phase of computerizing the Lands Registry data system that kicked off in 2013. The second phase to cover the remaining parts of the country started this year and is to last 10 years.

"Ten years from now, the whole country will be operating on the computerized system. Where we already computerized the land registry, there is no more paper work and this has improved our service delivery to the public," said Kulata.

Kulata was speaking to New Vision on the sidelines of the fourth tour by the Tanzanian delegation to the Land ministry to learn the best practices of Uganda's LIF. The 15-member delegation comprised Tanzania's minister of Land, William Lukuvi and MPs on parliamentary committee for Land and Natural Resources.

"We have now eliminated forgery since we get alerts whenever there is any attempt to duplicate a land title. However, there are still minor delays because the whole country is not yet ditigalised," said Kulata.

Kulata said land ownership transfer in the past took eight months but now with the efficient computerised system, it only takes seven days, adding that there is plan to improve the efficiency to one day.

"For a new title, once the transaction has passed through the controlling authority and it is with the ministry, it takes two weeks for one to get it, but previously it would take over four months," said Kulata.

Kulata attributed the success of the computerized land information system to commitment by the staff in the ministry, integration of the whole land management system including surveying, physical planning, evaluation and land registration.

"Uganda is now a success story in the Sub-Sahara Africa as far as Land Information System implementation is concerned.

That is why the Tanzania delegation has visited Uganda for the fourth time to learn from us. Kenya has come here twice, Malawi and Ghana have also visited us and we expect Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso to come this year. We welcome them and we are happy that we are the learning point," said Kulata.

Barney Laseko, Tanzania's Programme Coordinator in charge of Development of Integrated Land Management System, who was part of the delegation, said they are trying to develop what Uganda has achieved because both countries have the same environment and Uganda has moved on.

"We want to be aware of the mistakes Uganda made along the way so that we can also set up our integrated land information system. In Tanzania, we failed to take off because there was no logical approach, a lot of people don't get it right, there is internal fear of the unknown  and people with interest in land don't want change because the new system would fix  the loopholes they have been exploiting," said Laseko.

Oput said there are established area land committees at sub-county level across the country that evaluate land ownership before submitting the transaction to the District Land Boards (DLBs). The DLBs forward the land transaction to the zonal offices that finally issue land titles.

The three-year phase one of the computerised land information system started in February 2010 and ended in February 2013, followed by a one year period of the system's hardware and software maintenance.

In the first phase, the system has been installed at nine sites which include the ministry's zonal offices of Kampala, Jinja, Mukono, Wakiso, Masaka and Mbarara; Ministry headquarters in Kampala, Surveys and Mapping Department in Entebbe and the National Land Information Centre (NLIC) in Kampala.

In total, 13, ministry zonal offices were constructed in Kampala, Jinja, Wakiso, Masaka, Mbarara, Mukono, Fort Portal, Kibaale, Arua, Lira, Gulu, Mbale and Masindi.  Also the records centre, the resource centre at the Institute of Surveying and Land Management and National Land Information Centre were constructed.

Eight more are to be constructed in the second phase in Kabale, Rukungiri, Mityana, Luwero, Soroti, Mpigi and Moroto at a cost of sh56b. With the construction and operationalization of these remaining eight zonal offices, the LIS will have a complete coverage of the country.