Acquiring Land in Uganda

On  14th/ Feb 2015  representatives from Land Department Kabarole District were hosted live on Hits Fm to comment, discuss and share issues related to land , the Panelists included Kugonza Simon Peter Surveyor officer and Mr Alinda Peter Senior land managing Officer both from Kabarole District.  some of the key issues they discussed included  during the live talkshow included: Do you think Ugandan know the right processes of acquiring and buying a land in Uganda? Do you know why and when you should survey your land? Do you know the land title deeds in Uganda?etc

How a Ugandan can acquire land?

"According to the Uganda Law, Land is recognized in one way or the other and "Land belongs to people" but this phase does not mean that every land you see is your land meaning that ,some land is owned by the culture leaders, some land is  for the community, there is Mile land , Government land , forest land etc, so before anyone acquire land he should first have clear information about the type of land he/she wants to acquire and who owns the land. This should be the first step and other steps will follow, like surveying, registering and getting a title". Said Kugonza Simon Peter Kabarole district Surveyor during the talkshow

 Simon Peter adds a licensed surveyor then must visit the property to establish the boundaries. Depending on size and location, this can take up to three days. When this has been done, the transfer forms is submitted to the Land Office to receive consent to transfer.

How to acquire a land title and why people are encouraged to have  land titles for their land?

"The process of getting a land title is not very long and everyone can get a title for his or her land, first step is after acquiring the land, the owner must get in touch with the registered surveying company, where the company will approach the lands board and get instructions to survey the land, measuring the land , putting the land boundaries and provide the lands department with a report, then report will be submitted to Kampala for approval and copies will be kept for future reference and the company will be told what to do next .Once you get a land title, of your land you can use it to get a loan, for security purpose of your land no one can take it away by force, for future reference etc". Said Mr Alinde Peter Senior land managing Officer both from Kabarole District.

Alinda adds the 1995 Constitution grants land ownership rights solely to citizens of Uganda. Foreigners cannot own land freehold.Foreign investors, individual or corporate, cannot acquire land for the purpose of crop or animal production. Foreigners can either rent/lease from citizens or from the Government.

During the 2 hour live radio program, over 15listeners participated through call-ins, SMS, online for instance William  caller from Kabarole called in the radio program explaining that he has tried to acquire a land title  and it has taken him months to get it.

  

The live radio discussion which was moderated by Mr. Kasigazi Williams Donanto is supported by Toro Development Network (ToroDev) in partnership with SIDA, Spider, NED,, CIPESA, DRT, ICT4Dem, Hits FM,