Issues causing delays at Wakiso Land Registry are being addressed

Aug 03, 2016

In Wakiso, this process is not yet over

By Dennis Obbo 

The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has been implementing the computerisation programme of the land records and information since February 2010. The aim is to contribute to establishment of an efficient and effective land administration system, which facilitates the delivery of professional land services to our clients.

The computerisation of the land registry has involved changing the business processing of land transactions from a manual orientation to a computer-based environment. This change also affects other departments that provide information required to process land applications and include the Department of Surveys and Mapping, which provides the deed plan information and the Department of Land administration, which checks and approves all applications before the land registry can proceed, especially with fresh applications.

To be able to carry out the electronic transactions, which are faster and accurate, all hard copy documents used by the land registry and departments ought to have been entered into the computer. The digital copy should have also been verified and reconciled at a true replica of the registry file, after which, there is no need of referring to the ‘white pages.'

In Wakiso, this process is not yet over. We are still carrying out this exercise with the aim of completing it as soon as possible. There are, however, other challenges causing delays, which the ministry is handling. These include:

1.  Reconstruction of the old, torn and unreadable survey records. The current paper records for surveys and mapping date back to the 1920s. These papers records include old and torn cadastral sheets. Though they were still being used, they must be reconstructed and scanned to be able to generate digital copies. The reconstruction process of one sheet on average may take a couple of months. This has caused delays, especially for subdivisions. Clients whose transactions are affected by this challenge are always informed that it will take some time and so should be patient.

2. The new computerised system now requires complete submission of documents. There are those previous transactions done in the manual system where submissions were incomplete, for example, some lack evidence of payments receipts; some are not witnessed and others are not dated. New transactions cannot go ahead until the missing information on the old transactions is provided.

3.  The issue of unsurveyed land. Because its exact size is not known, it was not titled but its owners are known, they need to carry out the actual survey and the information digitalised before any transaction proceeds.

4.  As mentioned above, the need to verify and reconcile that the information captured in the system and ensure that it is a mirror reflection of the physical title records and thereafter all transactions are carried without referring to the paper records. We shall soon complete this task and then clients will be able to see the benefits of this intervention. Indeed where it has been completed - in Mbarara and Jinja land registry offices, there are no complaints of delays and unprofessionalism.

The ministry is, therefore, working hard to complete reconstructing the old torn survey maps in order to digitise all survey information but it is a slow process that requires patience, hence causing delays in completing land transactions. As long as there are no digital print deeds, no work can be done on computer by the land administrators and the registrars of title.

The delays may be anticipated to continue until when all maps and land records shall have been fully digitalised. Clients may interact with the Wakiso MZO staff - who are in uniform - to seek clarification and assurance on the same as we work towards better service delivery.

The benefits arising out of computerisation will be appreciated in the near future when the Ministry has resolved these challenges.

The writer is the spokesperson of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development

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