Government unveils land policy

By Vision reporter

The Government has unveiled a new land policy aimed at empowering women and children to end the increasing land conflicts which have hit the country in the last two decades.

Lands and housing minister Daudi Migereko said the Government had started implementing the policy, which would be launched by President Yoweri Museveni in the first week of March.

He noted that the Government intended to help women and children who inherit land to acquire titles to protect them from relatives who would grab it.

“If we use the policy well and sensitise the public about it, land wrangles will become history,” Migereko said.

He made the remarks on Friday while meeting Hilary Pennington, the vice-president of the Ford Foundation, at the ministry’s headquarters in Kampala.

The US-based foundation has been crucial in funding land management projects.

Migereko disclosed that the policy would address the historical land injustices meted out on the people of Uganda.

The policy also intends to give more land rights to small-scale farmers to help them go commercial.

Pennington described the new policy as a model and urged other African countries to emulate Uganda. She said her foundation would finance its implementation.

The policy was drafted by the Government in conjunction with civil society.

Migereko noted that implementing the policy would be easy, owing to the consultations between the Government and civil society.