Justice Gidudu wants all land titles recalled
Nov 06, 2019
Gidudu said those holding such titles must justify the authenticity of the documentation, and that the government must subject these titles to security checks.
L-R: Justice Vincent Saldanha, Justice Lawerence Gidudu, and Justice of the Supreme Court Elidad Mwangushyaduring the engagement meeting between the Judiciary and the Commission of inquiry into land matters. PHOTO: Ivan Kabuye
Justice Lawrence Gidudu has proposed that all land titles be recalled, saying they should be subjected to validation to weed out the fakes.
Prior to Monday, Chief Justice Bart Katureebe disclosed that there are 600,000 registered land titles.
Gidudu said those holding such titles must justify the authenticity of the documentation, and that the government must subject these titles to security checks.
The Judge who heads the Anti-Corruption Court made the remarks on Tuesday at Imperial Golf View Hotel, Entebbe. This was at a two-day engagement meeting between Judiciary and the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters.
Gidudu was discussing a paper presented by Inspector General of Government(IGG) Irene Mulyagonja ‘Inefficiencies and Challenges in the delivery of Land Justice in Uganda'.
"We should take back all our land titles for verification. They are not many, so this is very possible," said Gidudu.
The Anti-Corruption Court head revealed that harmonisation of both the analog and the digital National Land Information System will take 30 years.
Gidudu said the current overlapping rights on the same piece of land, is a dilemma that the government must sort out to create a tie-breaker.
"Supposing the landlord says I want to use all my land, what will the tenant say; that I want to stay as a tenant! It is incredible. Both have rights" observed Gidudu.
Land probe chairperson Justice Catherine Bamugemereire observed that a habit had cropped up; a new-age of land grabbers who forge documents and evict their grandparents.
The symposium was under the theme ‘Beyond Land Justice: Accountability and Creative Initiatives at Land Dispute Resolution in Uganda.