Nationallandpolicydraft3jan Feb Versionforconsultation

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations
Executive Summary
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
Chapter One: Land in Uganda

1.1 The Demographic Context
1.1.1 Population growth and structure
1.1.2 The spatial distribution pattern
1.1.3 The nature of the land question
1.1.4 The legacy of history
1.1.5 The system of property Law
1.2 Developing the Land Sector

1.2.1 An outline of development challenges
1.2.2 An inventory of specific issues
Chapter Two: Drafting the National Land Policy

2.1 The Need for a National Land Policy
2.2.1 National and international imperatives
2.2.2 Policy development benchmarks
2.3 The Conceptual Framework for Policy Development

2.3.1 The goal of policy development
2.3.2 Critical land policy issues
2.3.3 Methodological framework
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PART TWO: THE LAND POLICY FRAMEWORK
Chapter Three: Enhancing the Contribution of the Land Sector to National

Development
3.1 Overall Policy Context

3.2 Policy Statements and Strategies
3.2.1 Land must be productively used
3.2.2 Land development will contribute to poverty eradication
3.2.3 Access to land will enhance equity and social justice
3.2.4 Sustainable management of land will contribute to democratic governance
3.2.5 Proper management of land will enhance peace and security
3.2.6 Development of the land sector will facilitate growth in other sectors.
3.3 The Need for Comprehensive Reform of the Land System
Chapter Four: Reforming the Constitutional and Legal Framework
4.2.1. Residual sovereignty over land will be clarified
4.2.2. The role of the state in the land sector will be clarified
4.2.3. The nature of property rights under various tenures will be clarified
Chapter Five:Reforming the Land Tenure Framework
5.1. Overall Policy Context

5.2. Policy Statements and Strategies
5.2.1 Tenure Law will ensure security of access to land
5.2.2 Tenure Law will facilitate land market development
5.2.3 Tenure Law will protect natural resources
5.2.4 Tenure Law will protect common property resources
5.2.5 Tenure Law will protect public/government land
5.2.6 Tenure Law will clarify the status of land restored to Traditional Rulers
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5.2.7 Tenure Law will protect the land rights of the poor and marginalized
groups
5.2.8 Tenure Law will protect the land rights of women and children
5.2.9 Tenure Law will secure the land rights of pastoral communities
5.2.10 Tenure Law will secure the land rights of victims of HIV/AIDs
5.2.11 Customary tenure will be strengthened
5.2.12 Freehold tenure will be reviewed
5.2.13 Mailo tenure will be phased out or liberated
5.2.14 Leasehold tenure will be promoted
5.2.15 Informal tenancies will be regulated
5.2.16 A framework for supporting land will be established
Chapter Six: Reforming Land Management Framework
6.2.1 A framework for land stewardship will be designed
6.2.2 Effective land quality assurance measures will be institutionalised
6.2.3 Changing land needs will be monitored
6.2.4 A framework for land productivity enhancement will be designed
6.2.5 The framework of environmental planning will be strengthened
6.2.6 The framework of physical development planning will be strengthened
Chapter Seven: Reforming The Land Rights Administration Framework
7.2 Statements and Strategies
7.2.1 The land rights administration system will be re-engineered
7.2.2 Land rights delivery systems will be modernized
7.2.3 Capacity for land demarcation, survey and mapping will be enhanced
7.2.4 The land disputes management system will be restructured
7.2.5 A Land Information System (LIS), will be developed
7.2.6 Mechanisms for the generation of revenue will be established
7.2.7 Certain land administration functions will be privatized or divested
Chapter Eight: Reforming Regional and International Framework
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8.2.1 Areas of policy convergence will be defined
8.2.2 Regional convergence on land legislation will be explored
8.2.3 A framework for the management of shared resources will be developed
8.2.4 A framework for the management of population movements will be
developed
8.2.5 A framework for the harmonization of climate change policies will be
developed
Chapter Nine: Demonstrating Commitment for Land Policy Implementation
9.2.1 Realistic costing of the policy framework will be made
9.2.2 The policy framework will be widely disseminated
9.2.3 Implementation of the policy framework will be programmed
9.2.4 All stakeholders will be engaged in the implementation of the policy
framework
9.2.5 The land using public will be encouraged to internalize the policy
framework
9.2.6 A framework for the monitoring of policy implementation will be
developed
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APPENDICES
A: List of Land Sector Institutions which will Require Overall Establishment

B: List of Legislations which will Require Revision, Amendment, Repeal or
Enactment
C: List of Sectoral or Sub-Sectoral Policies which will Require Revision or Design
D: List of Treaties, Conventions and Agreements which will Require Revision or
Renegotiation
E: Preliminary Architecture of the Land Rights Administration System
F: List of Land and Land-Related Laws in Uganda
G: List of Land and Land-Related Policy Documents
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ACCNNR : African Convention on Conservation of Nature and Natural

Resources
CCPWCNH : Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural
and Natural Heritage
CEDAW : Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination Against Women
COMESA : Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
CPAIP : Community Protected Areas Institution Policy
DNHP : Draft National Housing Policy
DNLP : Draft National Land Policy
DNPP : Draft National Population Policy
DNLUP : Draft National Land Use Policy
DP : Decentralization Policy
DRP : Draft Rangelands Policy
EAC : East African Community
GIS : Geographical Information System
GPS : Global Positioning System
HIV/AIDS : Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome
IPNLP : Issues Paper for the National Land Policy
LA : Land Act
LSSP : Land Sector Strategic Plan
MLHUD : Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development
MLWE : Ministry of Lands Waters and Environment
MP : Mineral Policy
NEMP : National Environmental Management Policy
NGP : National Gender Policy
NAPW: National Action Plan for Women
NLPWG : National Land Policy Working Group
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NPCMWR : National Policy for the Conservation and Management of
Wetland Resources
NFP : National Fisheries Policy
NFNP : National Food and Nutrition Policy
NWA : Nile Waters Agreements
PEAP : Poverty Eradication Action Plan
PMA : Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture
RC : Ramsar Convention
TOR : Terms of Reference
UFP : Uganda Forestry Policy
UNCCB : United Nations Convention on the Conservation of
Biodiversity
UNCB : United Nations Convention on Biodiversity
UNCCD : United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
UNFCCC : United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
UNMDG : United Nations Millennium Development Goals
WP : Water Policy.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
This is Draft 3 of the National Land Policy for Uganda. It is the fourth output of the
contract signed on September 10, 2005 between MLWE (now MLHUD) on behalf of the
Republic of Uganda, and the International Development Consultants in association with
Juridicon Ltd. The draft presents in full, the policy context, statements and strategies
about the land sector which should now be put to further stakeholders debate.
Elements of the Draft National Land Policy

The Draft National Land Policy is presented in a three-band model, comprising a
definition of critical policy issues, a formulation of proposed policy principles and a
prescription of the strategies necessary for addressing the issues arising from these
principles.
The critical policy issues covered by the Draft National Land Policy, include the
following:
• Land in the national development framework,

• The constitutional and framework,
• The land tenure framework,
• The land use and management framework
• The regional and international framework
• The land rights administration framework
• The policy implementation framework.
Methodological Approach for the Development of the Policy

The development of the Draft National Land Policy has followed a participatory
consultative process whose objective was to obtain stakeholder consensus on the final
product. That consensus is expected to emerge through a number of sequential processes
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involving comprehensive review of available literature, preparation of at least five drafts,
discussion of those drafts with various government agencies and regional and national
groups, discussion at a National Land Conference and presentation of the Draft to the
Cabinet.
The aim of the consultations is to ensure that the background information provided is
accurate; the description of the land sector is adequate; the presentation format is
acceptable; all issues that should go into the Draft Policy have been captured; the policy
principles and statements made under each heading in are politically and socially realistic
in Uganda’s context, and those principles and policy statements are capable of efficient
and cost-effective implementation.
Consequently, measures will be put in place to ensure that -

i. a national land policy implementation monitoring and evaluation system
is established;
ii. the national land policy is reviewed at least every five years;
iii. all stakeholders, especially local land communities, develop
appropriate tools for policy refinement and contextualization;
iv. mainstream land policy values and principles are integrated into
Uganda’s political discourse;
v. the entire land sector reform package generates growth and
wealth creates for the people of Uganda; and
vi. the above strategies are institutionalized.
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PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
Chapter One: The Land Sector in Uganda
1.1 The Demographic Context
Population growth and structure
1. According to the 2002 census the population of Uganda is approximately 24.4

million (projected to 28 million by 2006) and is growing at the rate 3.3% per
annum The current annual growth rate means that the country will double its
population every 20 years, a phenomenon which will increase pressure on land
resources. The growth rate remains higher in the Northern Region, (despite
internal conflict and war that has raged there for the last 19 years), followed by
the Eastern Region. The Central and Western regions continue to record lower
than average national growth rates. All districts have, in recent times, began to
register positive growth rates as compared to the period 1980 – 1991 when a
combination of war and HIV/AIDS decimated populations in some districts.
2. In terms of structure, the population of Uganda is relatively “young” with 56% of

it below 18 years. The sex ratio was 95 males to 100 females in 2002. This
population structure has important implications for development in the next
several decades. For apart from demands it is bound to exert on the provision of
social infrastructure and concomitant services, the burden of economic and social
production will continue to fall heavily on the much fewer middle-aged and older
members of society.
1.1.2 The spatial distribution pattern

3. The population is unevenly distributed between regions and districts in Uganda;
the Central Region having the highest population at 27%, followed by Western at
26%, Eastern at 25% and Northern at 22%. Fifteen (15) districts have populations
ranging from 500,000 to 1 million, while 31 have between 200,000 to 500,000
and 8 have less than 200,000. This variation also exists at county and sub-county
levels.
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4. The pattern of human settlements is typical of other countries in Sub-Sahara
Africa. Eighty eight (88%) of the population live in the rural areas where
densities vary from 226 persons per square kilometre in Eastern, 176 in Central,
126 in Western to 65 in Northern Uganda. Only 12% of the population lives in
urban centres. The largest concentration of these settlements is to be found in the
conurbation stretching from Kampala to Entebbe in the Central Region and
Mbarara in the Western region.
5. The pattern of settlements in the rural areas has been shaped not only by eco-
climatic factors but also by such traumatic events as armed conflict and the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. In Northern Uganda, where large populations are internally
displaced and confined in (camps) security zones, settlement patterns are, in
addition, quite fluid and erratic. An important consequence of this spatial
distribution pattern is that availability and size distribution of land varies quite
widely throughout the country.
1.2 The Nature of the Land Question

1.2.1 The legacy of history
6. Colonization had an important impact on land relations in Uganda. In the first

instance, through a series of agreements namely the Buganda Agreement 1900,
the Toro Agreement 1900 and the Ankole Agreement 1901 made with traditional
rulers, the British imperial authorities granted the former a number of private
estates, called Mailo in Buganda, and native freeholds in Toro and Ankole, that
were broadly equivalent to the English freehold. The effect of these agreements
was not only to legitimize the feudal system of land tenure then in existence, but
to firmly confer upon traditional rulers absolute control of land which they never
had under customary law.
7. In the second instance, all land in the rest of Uganda was expressly declared to be
“crown land” meaning that the British imperial authorities now held radical title
to such land and all land users became, at the stroke of the pen, tenants at will of
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the British crown. As the presumed holder of radical title, the colonial
government proceeded to grant a limited number of freehold estates to selected
individuals, churches and corporations; mostly in and around Kampala and
Entebbe.
8. In the third instance, by virtue of political sovereignty, the British authorities

asserted the right to control and manage the use of land; a power which
was previously vested either in communities or in the political functionaries of
such communities. These changes were accompanied by an elaborate structure of
land rights administration which included, in the case of Buganda, a system of
land registration purporting to confer absolute title to the Buganda King, his
Princes and other landlords. That system remains in force to this day.
1.2.2 The system of property law
9. In addition to that legacy, a complex legal profile has evolved around land and
associated resources in Uganda. This consists of an elaborate constitutional
dispensation as well as a comprehensive regulatory framework. This may be
traced back to the first “constitutional instrument” establishing Uganda, namely
the declaration of protectorate status by the Imperial British Government in 1894.
That declaration was reinforced by a series of laws setting out a new regime of
property law for Uganda that was intended to supercede existing indigenous land
rights systems.
10. That position was only slightly modified by the 1962 (Independence)
Constitution which established a National Land Commission to hold and manage
land formerly held by the imperial government as “crown land” (henceforth
renamed “public land”), and of land boards within federal units to perform similar
functions in those areas. Land which had been allocated to and vested in
traditional rulers was not, however, affected by the Independence Constitution.
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11. Although the 1966 and 1967 Constitutions abolished federalism in Uganda, they
did not change the structure of land holding and distribution established under
colonialism and confirmed in the Independence Constitution.
12. A Land Reform Decree, promulgated in 1975, however, made radical changes in
respect of land and property relations. That decree declared all land in Uganda
public land and further provided that access would henceforth be on the basis of
leasehold tenure only. The decree further vested all land in the state to be held in
trust for the people of Uganda, and to be administered by the Land Commission.
The decree also abolished all laws that had been passed to regulate the
relationships between landlords and tenants in Buganda, Ankole and Toro.
Outside those areas, customary land users became tenants at sufferance of the
state.
13. The Land Reform Decree, though not fully implemented on the ground, remained
in the books until 1995 when a new constitution was enacted. That constitution
repealed the decree and restored the systems of land tenure that were in existence
at independence. The 1995 Constitution, also made new and radical changes in
the relationships between the State and the land in Uganda. It declared that land
would henceforth belong to the citizens of Uganda and would vest in them in
accordance with specific land tenure systems enumerated therein. A new system
of land administration, consisting of land boards in every district, was also
established.
14. Although the Uganda Land Commission was re-established, the Constitution
made it clear that District Land Boards were to operate independently of that
Commission and would not be subject to the direction or control of any person or
authority. They were, however, expected to take account of national and district
council policies on land.
15. The Constitution further provided that Parliament would provide for the
establishment of land tribunals, the jurisdiction of which would be to determine
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disputes relating to the grant, lease, repossession, transfer or acquisition of land
by individuals, the Uganda Land Commission or other authorities with
responsibility over land, and the determination of any disputes relating to the
amount of compensation to be paid for land compulsorily acquired. Finally, the
Constitution reaffirmed the authority of the state to make laws regulating the use
of land.
16. The Constitution then enjoined Parliament to enact a specific law regulating the
relationship between occupiers of land held by users under Mailo, freehold or
leasehold land so as to ensure security of occupancy to them and to provide for
the acquisition of registrable interest in land. That obligation was discharged in
1998 through the enactment of a Land Act which further clarified the content of
the various categories of tenure created by the Constitution, provided for the
nature and exercise of the police power of the state, and set out the powers and
functions of land boards and tribunals.
1.2.3 The framework of land management
17. In addition to the system of property law, a regulatory framework has also
evolved establishing standards designed to ensure that land resources are
sustainably managed. That framework sets out the scope of the police power of
the state in respect of land management in general, and the utilization of land for
specific use contexts, in particular. Because of their sub-sectoral foci and the fact
that they have been enacted in response to isolated policy demands, however, that
framework remains ambiguous on many sector-level issues. In addition the
modalities it prescribes for the solution of problems identified in each sub-sector
quite often overlap thus leading to serious administrative conflicts and
bureaucratic competition on the ground.
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1.3 The Challenge of Development
An outline of challenges
18. Despite the existence of that constitutional and legal framework, a number of
Challenges have emerged over the years, which must now be confronted. These
relate to land both as property and as a resource that is fundamental to economic
development in Uganda.
19. As property, the challenge in the land sector has been to design and universalize a
system of tenure that would instill confidence in individuals, communities and
institutions which own or desire to accumulate it as an asset. A report presented
by a Technical Committee on Land Tenure Reform in 1993, representing studies
going back to 1983, went so far as to recommend that freehold tenure should be
adopted as the basic property regime for all land in Uganda, including land in
urban areas. Although that recommendation was not adopted, the fact that land in
Uganda is held under multiple tenure regimes, has saddled the country with a
complex web of interlocking and overlapping rights and relations drawing their
legitimacy from indigenous and statute law.
20. As a development resource, agricultural land in Uganda has not always been
optimally and sustainably used. The primary reason is that indigenous agriculture
was always and still is neglected by the state; a fact which continues to contribute
to the underdevelopment of that sector. In addition, years of civil war and the
HIV/AIDS pandemic have destroyed economic infrastructure especially in the
northern and parts of the central regions.
21. In addition land degradation continues to be a serious phenomenon within

Uganda. Although growth has been registered in some parts of the country, this
has come at great cost to the quality of land resources. It is estimated, for
example, that land deterioration accounts for over 80% of the annual costs of
environmental damage, in Uganda, a fact, which the country can hardly afford.
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22. Similarly, the condition of land in urban areas continue to deteriorat due, inter
alila, to the influx of large numbers of unemployed young people lacking in
technical skills hence unable to contribute meaningfully to development. In
addition, the indiscriminate extension of urban boundaries has brought within
them population clusters living on land which is still being used for agricultural
and livestock purposes irrespective of planning requirements. Further, the urban
informal settlement sector in most towns (56% of Kampala’s population) is now
much larger than the inner core and beyond the reach of services such as proper
shelter, clean water, sanitation, recreational and physical infrastructure.
23. Finally, land reserved for conservation purposes continue to pose challenges as
regards, inter alia, bio-diversity protection and heritage preservation. Demands
exerted by population growth and settlement expansion have placed wildlife
resources, catchment areas, forests and wetlands at risk despite the existence of
legislation on these issues.
1.3.1 An inventory of specific issues
24. The specific challenges facing Uganda’s land sector are the following-
i. complexity and ambiguity in the constitutional and legal framework
relating to ownership, control and management of land resources;
ii. poor and wasteful administration of land delivery services;
iii. chronic underutilization of agricultural land;
iv. severe deterioration of land quality in many parts of the country;
v. lack of capacity for proper stewardship of land resources at the
national, local authority, and community levels;
vi. uncontrolled and improperly planned urban sprawl;
vii. lack of institutional support and service infrastructure for the
development of land under customary tenure;
viii. increasing pressure on land resources due to high population growth
rates
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ix. escalating land and other resource conflicts, especially in the north
and eastern parts of the country and ;
x. lack of management co-ordination between land and other
productive sectors.
25. The challenge of development in the land sector is therefore to ensure that these
issues are not only addressed but that land and associated resources are
transformed into a rebust engine for social and economic development in Uganda.
26. An essential first step in that transformation is the design of a comprehensive

policy for the land sector.
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Chapter Two : Drafting the National Land Policy
2.1 The Need for a National Land Policy
2.1.1 National and international imperatives.
27. The development of the land sector in Uganda is therefore driven primarily by
recognition of the fact that those challenges cannot be resolved unless steps are
taken to develop a comprehensive policy. This much has been conceded in past
and current official documentation relating to the land sector.
28. That documentation includes the Odoki Commission (1992), the Ssempebwa
Commission (2003), the National Environmental Management Policy (1994), the
Poverty Eradication Action Plan (1997,2004), the National Food and Nutrition
Policy (2003), Vision 2025, the Decentralisation Policy, the Land Sector Strategic
Plan (2000), the Draft National Land Use Policy (2004), the National Policy for
the conservation and Management of Westland Resources (1994), the Programme
for the Modernisation of Agriculture (2000), the Community Protected Areas
Institution Policy (2000), the Water Policy (1995), the Mineral Policy (2005), and
the Draft Rangelands Policy (2005).
29. That documentation acknowledges the centrality of land in the overall social and
economic development process in Uganda ad calls for the development of an
integrated policy for the sector. In addition, it calls for effective interlinkages
between the land and other productive sectors.
30. In addition to what emerges in official documents, at least four other factors make
land policy development in Uganda necessary and urgent. The first is that land
issues in their historical complexity do not appear to have been satisfactorily
resolved despite numerous pronouncements on that sector. The 1998 Land Act
which was expected to do this appears to have been enacted without exhausting
all the critical issues. Indeed attempts to implement the Act has raised up a dust of
issues which cannot be addressed without land policy review. Thus the Land Act
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itself has become a major problem which policy development must seek to
resolve.
31. The second is the need to refocus the discourse on land from overemphasis on
property rights per se, to its essential resource value in development. That
paradigm shift requires that the land sector should be fully integrated into the
country’s overall development planning through identification of effective
linkages with other productive sectors. This cannot be done without a
comprehensive land sector policy.
32. The third is the existence of policy gaps on special issues of importance to the
land sector itself. These include energy, fragile ecosystems (including lakeshores,
wetlands, hilly and mountains areas), water, dry lands (including rangelands), and
livestock, urbanization and industrilisation. As much policies as exist on these
issues are not properly integrated into land sector development.
33. The fourth is that international and regional trends in land policy require that
Uganda should broaden its policies by looking beyond its borders. This is
particularly important as the three East African countries move towards a
federal arrangement. In addition, Uganda is a party to many international and
regional convention, treaties and agreements which require adherence to specific
principles in the management of the land sector. These instruments establish an
international framework for environmental governance with countries party to
them are expected to.
2.1.2 Policy development benchmarks
34. The policy development process is further informed by a number of benchmarks

among which are that –
i. land belongs to the citizens of Uganda as prescribed by the national
Constitution,
ii. land is a fixed resource and is becoming scare in many areas;
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iii. the manner in which land rights are held, managed, transferred,
transmitted or otherwise disposed of, is fundamental to land sector
development;
iv. land is a basic resource for many users including for the production of
crops, livestock, fisheries, timber, fuel wood, construction materials, and
minerals;
v. the maintenance of ecological balance is important for the long-term
sustainability of land resources especially in the light of global
environmental changes;
vi. stakeholder participation is integral to land development;
vii. the harnessing of indigenous knowledge is essential for the proper
management of land-based resources;
viii. land policy should facilitate the development of an effective and up-to-
date land information system based on modern technology;
ix. strong institutional arrangements and well-defined policy
implementation mechanisms are essential for the overall implementation
of national land policy;
x. the state and local authorities have important roles in the regulation of
land use, protection of natural resources and preservation of sensitive
ecosystems;
xi. community based participatory land use planning is important for
fighting poverty and ensuring the sustainability of land resources;
xii. practices that take into account vulnerable and marginalized groups are
likely to result to fair distribution of benefits from land use;
xiii. recognizing gender roles in the use of land is a pre-requisite to
appropriate land management;
xiv. development and implementation of a comprehensive monitoring and
evaluation strategy is important to ensure that land use is consistent with
the national land policy; and
xv. the success of the implementation of the national land policy will greatly
depend on it’s linkage with other relevant policies.
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35. The current policy development process is, therefore, guided by a number of
parameters chief among which are the centrality of land in the economy, the
political, social and cultural complexity of the land question, and the importance
of land in the overall governance framework of the country. The current policy
development process is designed in such a manner as to ensure that these
parameters are fully integrated into the final product.
2.2 The Conceptual Framework for Land Policy Development

2.2.1 The goal of policy development
36. The overall goal of land policy development as it emerges from existing
documentation, is to agree on a framework which will ensure the sustainable
utilization of Uganda’s land resources for poverty eradication.
37. The specific targets comprised in that goal are, therefore, to -

i. stimulate the contribution of the land sector to overall economic
development and poverty eradication in Uganda;
ii. rationalize and simplify the complex tenure regimes in Uganda so as to
maximize their contribution to the development of the land sector;
iii. create an enabling environment for equitable access to land and security of
tenure;
iv. reverse or mitigate adverse environmental effects at local, national, regional
and global levels;
v. promote land use activities that ensure sustainable utilization and
management of envirornmental, natural and cultural resources for national
social-economic development;
vi. ensure planned, environmentally friendly, affordable and well distributed
human settlements for both rural and urban areas; and
vii. upgrade and harmonise all land use related policies and laws, and strengthen
institutional capacity at all levels of Government.
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2.2.1 The methodological framework
38. The process of drafting the National Law Policy has been conducted through
official consultation and stakeholder participation at all levels of the political
economy. A broad consensus has emerged not only on the need for urgency in
policy development but also on the critical issues which that process should
address.
39. A number of sequential processes have thus been adopted. These have entailed a
comprehensive review of available literature, preparation and revision of several
drafts, discussion of drafts with civil society groups, the private sector, owners
and users of land, various government agencies, and regional and national expert
groups. The penultimate version of the policy will be presented to a National
Land Conference before transmission of the final draft to the Cabinet.
2.2.2 Critical land policy issues
40. In response to that process at least seven issues have been identified for
critical assessment. These are-
i. the role of the land sector in the national development framework;
ii. the constitutional and legal status of land resources;
iii. the land tenure framework;
iv. the land use management framework:
v. the land rights administration framework;
vi. the regional and international policy framework: and
vii. the land policy implementation framework:
41. The policy document, presents a systematic diagnosis of these issues, and
proposes the principles and strategies which are required to address them.
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PART TWO: THE LAND POLICY FRAMEWORK
Chapter Three: Enhancing the Contribution of the Land Sector in
National Development
42. Land is a complex phenomenon in all societies. It is a resource in terms of the

space it provides, the environmental resources it contains and supports, and the
capital it represents and generates; a commercial asset that can be used and
traded; a critical factor of production; an essential part of the national patrimony;
and a key factor in shaping individual and collective identity through its history,
the cultural expressions and idioms with which it is associated, and the influence
that it has on spirituality and aesthetic values. Thus, land is perhaps the most
essential pillar of national development. For Uganda, this is likely to remain the
case for a long time to come.
43. The land sector is, therefore, expected to play a crucial role in the development of
other sectors and, specially, in providing leverage in efforts at poverty reduction,
the promotion governance and social justice, political accountability and
democratic governance, the management of conflict and ecological stress and the
modernization of the economy as whole.
44. The integration of the land sector into the national development framework calls
for policies based on a number of important principles. Among these are that-
i. policy must address all the multiple social, economic, ecological,
cultural and political functions of land with the understanding that
they are to be performed in a sustainable and equitable manner and
that there should be harmony among them;
ii. the system of land rights creation, enjoyment and alienation must
seek to strengthen and secure stakeholder control over and
responsible management and administration of land resources;
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iii. state and non-state actors must provide necessary leadership for
land sector operations as well as stewardship of land resources in
their respective contexts;
iv. land sector operations must be fully costed, financed and provided
with adequate support services infrastructure;
v. structures and processes should be in place for effective and intra-
sectoral coordination of all land sector operations throughout the
country, and
vi. civil society organizations and the private sector must work hand
in hand with government actors to achieve the goals and
aspirations of the land sector.
Policy Statements and Strategies

3.2.1 Land must be productively used and sustainably managed.
45. In order to ensure increased contribution of land to economic productivity, and

commercial competitiveness, there is need to design and execute
a paradigm shift from emphasis on land ownership to land development.
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i. improving efficiency of small holder farming through the use of
intensive technologies of production;
ii. enhancing access to land for large scale commercial investments
without prejudicing security of tenure for the poor;
iii. ensuring provision of infrastructure including but not limited to:
roads, electricity, water and telecommunications;
iv. designing appropriate public policies and incentives to deal with
the problems of labour and credit for agricultural productivity; and
v. putting in place measures to manage rapid population growth so as
to relieve pressure on land resources.
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Land development will contribute to poverty eradication
47. Land is at the center of poverty eradication in Uganda in many ways. The
dominance of the land sector in the economy is evident in the fact that more than
43% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, 85% of export earnings and 80%
of employment, are generated from land based economic enterprises.
Consequently the security of livelihoods and well-being for most Ugandans will
continue to depend on the sustainable management and development of the land.
It is important therefore ensure that the poor are protected from activities which
deny them access to land resources and the infrastructure necessary for productive
use.
48. Strategies to ensure that the livelihoods of Ugandans are protected will include -
i. making land available to the poor on the basis of affordability and
security;
ii. periodic audit of land needs to ensure that the livelihoods of the
poor are not compromised;
iii. enhancing the capacity of the poor to use land productively
through availability of appropriate technologies and support
services; and
iv. strengthening community level institutions for effective
management of land resources.
3.2.3 Access to land will enhance equity and social justice
49. Land is an important factor in the mediation of social, cultural and religious life in
Uganda. Indeed, land distribution not only mirrors political power but also
determines relations of production between social classes in the country. Indeed
denial of access to land has, historically, been used as an instrument of
domination over women and other power minorities. As such access, control and
management of land is an important human rights and social justice issue.
50. The following strategies will be put in place to ensure that equity and justice
16
prevails in the land sector –
i. the imposition of land ceilings to prevent unproductive
accumulation of land;
ii. the protection and preservation of public land resources, commons,
heritage sites and fragile ecological areas against appropriation by
political elites;
iii. the recognition and strengthening of the land rights of women,
children and other minorities under regimes of property acceptable
in their social contexts;
iv. elimination of all discriminatory laws and practices in the manner
in which access, control and transmission of land rights are
determined; and
v. the development of land banks for the periodic resettlement of the
poor and marginalized groups.
Sustainable management of land resources will contribute to democratic governance.
51. Managing land resources is as much an economic enterprise as it is an issue of

governance. Indeed, an important challenge of democratic governance for Uganda
is to develop mechanisms for efficient, transparent and participatory management
of land resources as an integral part of national development.
52. The following strategies will be put in place to ensure that the way in which land
resources are managed and administered contributes to the consolidation of
democratic governance -
i. the process of decentralization of land administration under
existing or revised land and local government legislations will be
strengthened;
ii. the power to make decisions over land matters will be devolved to
appropriate organs of community governance;
iii. the relationship of patronage that still exists between government
agencies with responsibility over the land sector, and the land
using public which is ultimately responsible for the development
17
of that sector; will be eliminated through a process of privitisation
and divestiture of land service delivery;
iv. synergy between land administration institutions and political
governance structures at all levels of social and economic
organization will be ensured through a systematic process of
rationalization and integration;
v. the land rights administration system will be re-engineered for
better efficiency, transparency and cost-effectiveness; and
vi. systematic training will be carried out to ensure capacity for land
management and administration.
3.2.5 Proper management of land resources will enhance peace and security.
53. Competition over land arising ,among others, from population growth, resource
depletion, and scarcity, is the cause of conflict, insecurity and environmental
stress in many parts of Uganda. An important consequence of this is increased
poverty due to abandonment of agricultural and livestock activities. This
phenomenon is most acute in the North and North-Eastern regions of the country.
The restoration of stability in land relations and the resumption of sustainable
livelihood activities, are issues which must be confronted.
54. The following strategies will be put in place manage land related conflict in
Uganda -
i. the speedy resolutions of conflict with Uganda’s neighbors;
ii. the protection of all land owning communities from external and
internal encroachment, seizures and other forms of invasion by
hostile agencies;
iii. the promotion of residential harmony between, and prevention of
ethnic cleansing among, various land communities;
iv. the resettlement of all internally displaced persons to their areas of
origin;
18
v. the guarantee of tenure security for minorities and marginalized
communities;
vi. the investigation and resolution of all historical land claims and
injustices; and
vii. the institutionalisation of mechanisms for socially and culturally
acceptable resolution of land disputes on a long term basis.
Development of the land sector will facilitate growth in other productive sectors.
55. The status of land resources is an important determinant of the health and vitality
of sectors and sub-sectors which depend on them for productivity. Among these
are agriculture, livestock and fisheries, energy, minerals, water, wildlife, forestry,
and human settlements. In addition, the overall condition of the environment
depends to a large extent on how land resources are used and managed.
56. To ensure that the land sector provides effective support to associated sectors and
sub-sectors, strategies will be put in place to ensure that -
i. detailed sectoral and subsectoral policies and management systems
consistent with the provisions of the national land policy are
developed and operationlised;
ii. the state or local authorities are in a position to provide the land
resources required for development in those sectors;
iii. developments in those sectors do not lead to the deterioration of
the quality of land resources;
iv. constant review of the performance of the land and these other
sectors is conducted to monitor their mutual contribution to and
impact on each other; and
v. sufficient resources for the development and management of the
land sector and all related sub-sectors is constantly available.
19
3.3 The Need for Comprehensive Reform of the Land System
57. To ensure that Uganda’s land sector is able to make an effective contribution to
national development in the manner set out above policy reforms will be
necessary in specific components of land system. The most important of these
are -
i. the constitutional and legal framework
ii. the land tenure framework
iii. the land management framework
iv. the rights administration framework and
v. the regional and international framework
58. In addition, a clear framework, for the implementation of these reforms, will need
to be designed, costed, programmed and operationalised.
20
Chapter Four : Reforming the Constitutional and Legal Framework
59. Uganda is perhaps one of the few former British colonies in which the land
question has always been at the center of the constitutional and legal discourse.
The result is that land issues are mired in a bed of complex constitutional
structures and processes, drawing legitimacy from historical as well as
contemporary political exigencies.
60. That history has created fundamental ambiguities in the juridical status of land as
both property and a development resource. In particular the constitutional and
legal framework lacks clarity with respect, inter alia, to -
i. the implications of shifting radical title to land from the state to
the citizens of Uganda at large;
ii. the constitutional and legal the proper role of the state and local
authorities in land sector development;
iii. the nature of property rights under recognized tenure regimes;
iv. the manner in which the regulatory framework established by other
laws is to be enforced.

4.2.1 The manner in which residual sovereignty over land is exercised will be
clarified.
61. Although the Constitution and the Land Act have, by vesting land in the citizens
of Uganda at large, resolved an important historical anachronism in the country’s
land law namely, the location of radical title, they have created serious
ambiguities in other directions.
62. First, it not entirely clear whether the citizens of Uganda, individually or
collectively, can assert residual authority against the state, local authorities and
community governance organs in respect of unallocated or “vacant” land. This is
21
emerging as a particularly sensitive issue in areas under semi-feudal control, and
those targeted by elites for expropriation.
63. Second, it is not clear how residual sovereignty in respect of government leases
will be exercised. Indeed it is not clear whether the state can now grant leases
over land vested in the citizens of Uganda any more.
64. Third, authority to allocate “vacant” land, which the law vests in district land
boards, does not appear to rest on any recognized reversionary title. Indeed,
citizens of Uganda are beginning to question the legal foundation and proprietary
of these powers.
65. In order to remove these ambiguities, the Constitution and the Land Act will be
amended to: -
i. clarify that the radical title vested in the citizens of Uganda shall be
held and exercised on their behalf by the state and its established
agencies;
ii. classify land in Uganda in terms of broad ownership characteristics
indicating whether and what land is held as public, community or
private property; and
iii. specify in an Act of Parliament, the specific terms upon which the
state or its established agencies exercise trusteeship over land.
4.2.2 The role of the state in the land sector will be clarified
66. The role of the state in the development of the land sector is generally expressed
in three distinct ways. These are through the exercise of the power of eminent
domain in appropriate circumstances, the exercise of the police power of the state,
and the provision of capacity and resources to enforce the regulatory framework
of land use and management. Over the years the state and local authorities have
demonstrated systematic arbitrariness, inefficiency and lack of transparency in the
exercise of those powers. The fact the regulatory framework of land use and
22
management is complex, internally fragmentary, conflictual, bureaucratic and
highly centralized has tended to impede the effective management of land
resources. Thus the land sector is as much a prisoner of its juridical status as it is
of its isolation from other productive sectors.
67. In order to ensure that the state and local authorities are able to participate
proactively, in land sector development, the Constitution, the Land Act and other
relevant laws will be amended to:
i. extend the power of eminent domain and the police power to local
authorities and recognized organs of land owning communities;
ii. expand the scope of the power of eminent domain to include
acquisition of land for carefully defined investment, physical
planning and similar development purposes;
iii. prescribe a uniform method for the exercise of the power of
eminent domain, and the payment of compensation irrespective of
tenure category, and;
iv. prescribe guidelines for the exercise of the police power by local
authorities and organs of land owning communities for purposes of
ensuring uniformity.
68. In addition, strategies will be put in place to -

i. educate the land using public on the need for public regulation of
land use;
ii. secure public confidence in the implementation of regulatory
mechanisms; and
iii. build capacity for enforcement and periodic monitoring of the
effects of public regulation
23
4.2.3 The nature of property rights under designated tenure regimes will be
clarified
69. The classification of tenure regimes in both the Constitution and the Land Act
into customary, freehold, mailo and leasehold, is beginning to raise a number of
juridical questions. The first is whether that classification has any value: was it
necessary or even adequate? The second, is whether the categories of tenure
regimes known to the property law of Uganda are now closed; third is whether
indeed, there is any essential difference between freehold, mailo and even
customary tenure fourth is whether any of those regimes develop incidents akin to
another without the intervention of the state or its agencies? And the fifth, is
whether the Uganda Land Commission, district land boards and land tribunals are
competent to resolve disputes as to whether a particular parcel of land is indeed
held on the basis of any of those tenure regimes?
70. In order to clarify these issues, the Constitution, the Land Act and relevant laws
will be amended to provide for a simplified, progressive, affordable and
implementable land tenure system which :-
i. allows tenure regimes of all categories to evolve and develop
appropriate incidents in response to changes in social structures,
technologies of land use and market demands;
ii. permits inter-convertibility of tenure rights in response to changes
in social structures, technologies of land use and ecological
imperatives;
iii. enables primary tenure regimes (i.e. freehold, customary tenure
and mailo) to develop their own unique incidents in response to
time, circumstance and durability and without artificial
mechanisms for unidirectional conversion to freehold tenure
currently perceived of as the dominant system;
iv. empowers communities with custody over public or community
land to confer rights subordinate to what are expressly recognized
24
in the law depending on the need and demand by the ordinary land
using public, and
v. simplify the process of access to land by the poor through
mechanisms free of the excessive bureaucracy associated with the
freehold tenure regime.
25
Chapter Five: Reforming the Land Tenure Framework
71. Land tenure refers to the terms and conditions under which access to and rights in
land are acquired, retained, used, disposed of or transmitted. It is generally
appreciated that tenure is at the heart of land sector development since property
rights are the primary basis of decision-making in land use matters. An
assessment of tenure regimes is therefore central to the formulation of a
comprehensive land policy.
72. The Constitution and the Land Act provide that land in Uganda may be held in
terms of four tenure categories namely customary, freehold, mailo and leasehold.
The incidents of those tenure regimes (other than leasehold) are however, defined
in terms of generalities which establish no particular frontiers. Besides, the
apparent finality with which the incidents of each tenure category is presented
leaves little room for transitional or progressive adaptation in response inter alia,
to changing demands exerted by population growth, technological development
and rapid urbanization. The result is likely to be the growth and expansion of
informal or secondary land rights regimes in both urban and rural areas.
73. Customary tenure is defined in terms of its territoriality or clan nature, existence
of rules governing community, family, or individual access to land, and perpetual
ownership of land and resources. Provision is made for the conversion of land
held under customary tenure into freehold and the issue of certificate of
customary ownership on application to district land boards. Occupiers under
customary tenure may also establish Community Land Associations as
instruments of land management.
74. The incidents of customary tenure as enumerated by the Land Act do not,
however, recognize the essential characteristics of that property regime, namely
that -
26
i. access to land is a function of community, lineage and family
membership,
ii. access, to land though universal, is specific to a function or group
of functions,
iii. allocation of and control of use of land are part and parcel of
community governance, and
iv. transgenerational rights to land are protected through rules of
exchange and transmission designed to keep land resources within
communities, lineages and families.
75. Although way little land in Uganda is held under freehold tenure, it is clear that
official government policy looks upon its as the property regime of the future. Its
incidents, which are basically standard, include the conferment of a full power of
disposition, and compulsory registration of title in perpetuity. Transactions
involving land held under freehold tenure is therefore governed by the
Registration of Titles Act (Cap. 230). That means that an efficient land registry
system is expected to be in place at all times.
76. Land held under mailo tenure is confined to Buganda. Although akin to freehold,
the incidents of this tenure system are subject to the rights of occupiers or Kibanja
holders under conditions that are essentially fendal in nature. These occupancy
rights are now guaranteed by the Land Act. Indeed what the Act has done is to
confer upon Kibanja holders permanent occupation rights coupled with an option
to purchase the reversion and thus accede to the superior title. Transmission of
land held under mailo tenure is governed by Baganda customary law. This means
that land rights pass exclusively to male heirs.
77. As is the case with freehold tenure, transactions in mailo land are governed by the
Registration of Titles Act (Cap 230). Because of the vicissitudes accompanying
the legal status of mailo land before the 1995 Constitution, however, the mailo
land registry is in a derelict state.
27
78. The leasehold is a device known to all property systems. Many jurisdictions have
found its flexibility useful, particularly in urban areas, or in situations of rapid
land use change in response to market demands. Indeed leaseholds are now being
extensively used to promote sophisticated forms of concurrent ownership such as
condominiums and time-share arrangements.
79. Although it is still too early to a conduct a meaningful audit of the impact of these
tenure regimes on the development of the land sector in Uganda, the existence of
ambiguities in the way in which the Land Act defines them is good reason for
comprehensive reappraisal. That appraisal needs to take account of a number of
principles among which are that -
i. a good land tenure system should guarantee security of tenure and
access, ensure equity in the distribution of land resources,
eliminate gender discrimination in ownership and transmission,
and preserve and conserve resources for future generations;
ii. the system of law that defines the incidents of specific tenure
regimes should derive its legitimacy and relevance from cultural,
economic and social usages indigenous to Uganda and not from
those imported from elsewhere; and
iii. individual land tenure regimes should, in addition, be facilitated to
develop and evolve in response to competing social, economic and
political demands, hence policies based on simple replacement
models are unlikely to succeed.

5.2.1 Tenure Law must ensure security of access to land
80. Tenure determines, in a very general sense, who may have access to what land,
for what purpose and for how long. An important attribute of any tenure regime,
therefore, is that it should confer security and temporal control over specified land
resources in respect of the use functions for which such access is required or
28
obtained. The assumption that only particular tenure regimes can confer such
security is not supported by empirical reality.
81. To ensure that all tenure regimes recognized under the laws of Uganda confer
social, economic and political security to land owners, occupiers and users,
legislative and other measures will be put in place to -
i. remove all structural and normative impediments internal to the

operation of all tenure systems;
ii. guarantee that access to land by way of transfer or transmission is
not denied to any one on the basis of gender, ethnicity, or social
and economic status;
iii. protect and stabilize informal tenancies in urban and peri-urban
areas
iv. control speculative land accumulation by elites through the
manipulation of land market systems;
v. re-affirm and strengthen the legitimacy of socially and culturally
acceptable tenure systems as a means of preserving access rights to
common property resources
vi. regulate subdivision of land under any tenure to guarantee the
maintenance of economic security in the land sector; and
vii. enforce the provisions of the Land Act requiring spousal consent
for all transactions involving family or community land.
5.2.2 Tenure law must facilitate the development of a land market
82. Land markets are concerned with the transfer of rights and interests in land
through sale, assignments and similar forms of exchange. In that sense, therefore,
all tenure regimes operate in the context of their own peculiar market
characteristics. What is important is that whatever market exists, functions
efficiently and in support of the social economic and cultural needs of the land
using public. It is important to note, however, that the land market is a complex
29
economic, social and political phenomenon whose vitality varies in response to
capital, labour and the structural and normative characteristics of a given tenure
regime.
83. In order to promote the efficiency of land markets under recognized land tenure
regimes, an enabling environment will be created to -
i. facilitate the exchange and transmission of land rights and interests
without compromising tenure security for individuals and
communities;
ii. stimulate the development of land markets through fiscal, taxation
and similar measures, in areas of high demand for land;
iii. improve the operation of land markets through efficient land
delivery services involving, where appropriate, registration of
rights and record of transactions, and speedy dispute processing
under specific tenure regimes;
iv. facilitate the recordation or certification (without necessary
conversion), of land rights under all tenure regimes throughout
Uganda, and
v. ensure that land rights registers are established and are periodically
updated so as to guarantee transactional accuracy hence minimize
costly disputes.
5.2.3 Tenure law must protect natural resources
84. Natural resources such as water, minerals, forests, wetlands, wildlife, nature
reserves and sensitive ecosystems are important for Ugandans. The Constitution
of and the Land Act confer management trusteeship in respect of these resources
in the State and local authorities. These instruments do not however address the
issue of how access to these resources may be obtained. There is need, therefore,
for the establishment of clear tenure principles regulating access to and the
sharing of the products of natural resources with ordinary Ugandans.
30
85. To ensure that a framework for the protection and preservation of natural
resources for the benefit of the people of Uganda is in place measurers will be
taken to -
i. review and revise the regulatory framework of natural resources to
clarify who may have access to what natural resources products;
ii. develop principles for the mitigation or reparation of damage
caused to committees through uncontrolled utilization of natural
resources;
iii. develop and institutionalize mechanisms for the joint and
participatory management of natural resources with communities
owning or contiguous to land in or over which these resources are
situated;
iv. revitalise and strengthen indigenous principles and mechanisms
regarding the utilization of particular natural resources such as
water, forests and wetlands;
v. ensure that the state retains exclusionary control over extremely
sensitive ecosystems such as water catchments, biodiversity
colonies, and lake shores;
vi. review and revise the regulatory framework of natural resources to
reflect the provisions of the national land policy; and
vii. ensure that large-scale investment decisions and activities do not
compromise the sustainable management and conversation of
natural resources.
5.2.4 Tenure law must protect common property resources
86. Common property resources refer to particular types of resource systems whose
size and characteristics make it costly in social and economic terms, to exclude
potential beneficiaries from gaining access to their use. Among these are grazing
lands, woodlands, watering points, ritual grounds and forests, fisheries, irrigation
systems and recreational parks. Common property resources are usually managed
31
through institutional arrangements, customs, and social conventions, designed to
induce co-operative solutions to issues of access and benefit sharing.
87. The Land Act imposes upon the state and local authorities management
trusteeship over some categories of common property resources i.e., natural lakes,
rivers, ground water, natural ponds, natural streams, wetlands, forest reserves,
national parks and any land reserved for ecological and touristic purposes. Those
provisions do not, however, take into account the role of local communities in the
preservation and management of common property resources;
88. Effective preservation and management of common property resources requires

that mechanisms be put in place to -
i. enact appropriate legislation to clarify who may have access to
what categories of common property resources and how such
access may be secured;
ii. identify, document and gazette all common property resources
wherever located and irrespective of their tenure status;
iii. ensure that common property resources exclusively used by or
available to particular communities are directly held and managed
by them;
iv. document indigenous knowledge of particular common property
resources, especially those of ritual or medicinal value;
v. develop mechanisms which will mediate between state, local
authorities, communities and individual interests in particular
common property resources, and
vi. review existing laws and regulations relating to the management of
common property resources so as to ensure complimentarily with
acceptable international principles.
5.2.5 Tenure law must protect public/government land
89. The Constitution and the Land Act confer upon the Uganda Land Commission the
32
power to hold any land vested in or acquired by the government (including land
acquired abroad). However, the exact loci of such land and its tenure status, is not
specified nor do mechanisms exist for identifying or adjudicating such land. It is
to be assumed, nonetheless, that such land includes land used by government
agencies for public purposes, land reserved for future public use, road reserves
and land carrying social infrastructure. It must also be assumed that the Land
Commission holds such land either as freehold or on public lease depending on its
tenure history. The Land Act stipulates, in addition, that one of the functions of
district land boards is to hold and allocate land in the district ” which is not owned
by any person or authority”. There is no indication as to how such land will be
identified.
90. In order to accord effective protection to public or government land, legislative

and other measures will be taken to –
i. define the manner and conditions under which such land may be
acquired, used or otherwise disposed of;
ii. adjudicate and survey, and register any such land in the name of the
Land Commission or respective district land boards;
iii. ensure that until otherwise allocated to private or other uses, the
management of such land is in compliance with legislation expressing
the police power of the state;
iv. initiate a process for the expansion of the pool of public/government
land through appropriate land banking arrangements, and
v. protect such land from appropriation by political elites.
5.2.6 Tenure law must clarify the conditions under which land restored to
traditional rulers is held
91. An important political concession made in 1993 was the restoration of assets and
properties belonging to traditional rulers which were confiscated in 1967. These
include vast areas of land in Buganda, Ankole and Bunyoro. The relevant
legislation says that the interest restored is equivalent to that which was held by
33
the Uganda’s Land Commission at the time of restoration. There is confusion as
to whether such interest is limited to leasehold or could include freehold or mailo
tenure.
92. In order to remove that confusion, legislatives and other measures will be put in
place to -
i. clarify the nature of tenure of such land in the light of constitutional
provisions vesting all land in the citizens of Uganda;
ii. ensure that such land is used strictly as public property,
iii. prepare an inventory showing the location of such land and the nature
of any beneficial interest held by persons in occupation thereby;
iv. ensure that such occupiers are protected from forceful evictions or
removals by agents of traditional rulers; and
v. ensure that such land is otherwise sustainably managed and used.
5.2.7 Tenure law must protect the land rights of the poor, marginalized and
disadvantaged groups.
93. Note has been taken of the fact that most of the poor in Uganda live in the rural
areas or in squalid conditions in urban settlements. Of particular concern are
farm and urban informal settlement dwellers, ethnic minorities (including
hunter-gatherers), and internally displaced populations. These population groups
occupy land on the basis of precarious and unprotected land rights systems,
which expose them to constant evictions, removals and displacements. This has
become a major cause of poverty among these groups.
94. In order to ensure that the de facto rights of urban and rural poor and marginalized
communities are protected and that they are able to live a dignified life,
legislative and other measures will be put in place to
i. document and protect such de facto occupation rights against arbitrary
evictions or displacements;
34
ii. accord security for informal sector activities without compromising
physical planning standards and requirements;
iii. mainstream informal sector activities in overall rural and urban
development planning;
iv. provide social infrastructure to development based on limited or
precarious tenancy conditions;
v. promote and confer legitimacy to the land use activities of the urban
poor especially in relation to agriculture and silviculture;
vi. defend and preserve the traditional habitats of marginalized
communities and provide infrastructure for their improvements; and
vii. provide special protection to widows and orphans against deprivation
of land resources through distress sales and discriminatory
transmissions.
5.2.8 Tenure law must not discriminate against women and children
95. Land use in Uganda, as elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa is primarily an activity

of the womenfolk. It is estimated that between 70 – 80% of the country’s
agricultural labour is supplied by women but only 7% of these hold title to land.
Attempts in the Constitution and the Land Act to redress this situation by
proscribing discriminatory practices in land ownership, occupation and use, and
further requiring spousal consent to transactions involving family land, have not
been successful as these are routinely ignored and are, in any event, non
applicable to widows and divorcees.
96. To ensure that constitutional and international provisions relating to non-

discrimination against women and children are strictly observed, legislative and
other measures will be put in place to -
i. domesticate all international conventions to which Uganda is a party

which outlaw discrimination against women and children;
35
ii. mainstream gender into development planning so as to improve the
status of women;
iii. reform the country’s property laws including those considered “gender
neutral” to ensure equality and equity in ownership and control of
land;
iv. review and liberalise customary rules and procedures relating to
succession so as to ensure that the transmission of land to women is
not impeded;
v. ensure that women are fully integrated into all decision making
structures and processes relating to access and use of land; and
vi. design and implement a regime of matrimonial property aimed at the
protection of spouses both within and outside marriages.
5.2.9 Tenure law must secure land for pastoral communities
97. Pastoral communities occupy dry lands which are harsh in terms both of climate
and ecology. The land use system is, therefore, characterized by territorial
expansion, transhumance and competition over grasslands, limited woodlands and
watering commons. The drylands environment also provides habitat for many
wildlife species.
98. More recently, global climate change has exposed drylands to extreme
vulnerability. The resulting stress often leads to conflicts and competition over
these resources. This is particularly the case in the North and North-Eastern parts
of Uganda.
99. In order to prevent further threats to pastoral resources and mitigate the severity
of competition over them legislative and other measures will be put in place to -
i. prescribe clear principles for the ownership, control and management
of pastoral lands by designated pastoral communities and institutions
as common property under customary law;
36
ii. protect pastoral lands from indiscriminate appropriation by individuals
or corporate institutions under the guise of investment;
iii. maintain an equitable balance between the use of land for pasture,
agriculture, and for wildlife protection;
iv. establish mechanisms for flexible and negotiated cross-border access
to pastoral resources among clans, lineages and communities for their
mutual benefit;
v. establish efficient mechanisms for the speedy resolution of conflict
over pastoral resources.
5.2.10 Tenure law must secure the land rights of victims of HIV/AIDS
100. HIV/AIDS has colossal economic and social costs for Uganda. For not only does
the pandemic lead to a crisis of production and reproduction in agriculture
through mortality in and persistent morbidity of the population, loss of
agricultural labour, and disablement of the land administration function, it
generates landlessness and poverty through asset transfers, distress land sales and
abuse of land inheritance procedures. Widows and orphans in rural areas, who are
most at risk are often rendered destitute through denial of access to land
resources. This has imposed severe social and economic burdens upon many,
usually older, social groups in Uganda.
101. In order to protect the land rights of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS,
legislative and other measures will be put in place to -
i. control rural land market operations to prevent distress sales involving
victims of HIV/AIDS
ii. design and implement legislation that would enable widows and
orphans to inherit family land;
iii. mainstream HIV/AIDS intervention into all land sector activities;
iv. mitigate the land redistribution aspects of HIV/AIDS through
appropriate social and economic interventions, including expansion of
the asset base for people with or affected by the pandemic; and
37
v. encourage concurrent ownership of rural land through the registration
of family or community trusts.
5.2.11 Customary tenure will be strengthened
102. Over 80% of land in Uganda is held on customary tenure. That situation is
unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. It is also acknowledged that
customary values and principles operate as important variables in the dynamics of
registered property relations in Uganda. Despite this reality, throughout Uganda’s
history, customary tenure has been suppressed, disparaged and sabotaged by state
imposed property regimes to freehold or analogous systems. Available evidence
indicates nonetheless that despite that neglect, customary land tenure values and
principles have survived., indeed these values and principles have been known to
sabotage the operation of statutory law in situations where customary tenure
rights have been converted.
103. The Constitution and the Land Act have partially restored the status of customary
land tenure by recognizing it as one of the four regimes through which access
rights to land may be obtained. That recognition, however, has come with hidden
distortions and misconceptions, which must be removed if customary tenure is to
evolve as a dynamic instrument for land sector development.
104. The following legislative and other measures will therefore be put in place to
facilitate that evolution -
i. a programme will be initiated for the documentation and eventual
codification of customary land tenure rules applicable to specific
communities at the district or county levels;
ii. a land registry system for land rights under customary tenure
indicating the exact nature and content of rights held by individuals
and communities as well as common property resources will be
designed and operationalised;
38
iii. a programme for the recordation , certification and registration of
customary land tenure rights will be initiated systematically
throughout Uganda;
iv. a legislative framework will be designed and enacted for the orderly
development and evolution of customary law;
v. provisions in the Land Act relating to the conversion of customary
land tenure to freehold will be deleted to enable the former to evolve
in response to social, economic, and cultural change;
vi. community land structures will be strengthened as mechanisms of first
instance in land rights allocation, use regulation and dispute processing
in respect of land under customary tenure;
vii. mechanisms for the recognition and enforcement of decisions of
community land structures by local government and higher state
institutions will be designed and administered;
viii. procedures in conformity with customary land law for the allocation
ix. and redistribution of land so as to prevent the emergence of
inequalities
x. and injustices will be developed;
xi. the rules of transmission of land rights under customary land tenure
will be modified so as to guarantee gender equality and equity;
xii. provisions will be made for joint ownership of family land by spouses
in recognized marriages; and
xiii. common property resources will be inventorised and vested in
communities to be managed under customary law;
5.2.12 Freehold land tenure will be reviewed
105. Very little land is held under freehold tenure in Uganda. Most of these were
granted by the colonial government to upper-class Ugandans, churches and
corporate institutions. A few were also conferred through experiments with
customary tenure conversion in a number of counties following the
recommendations of an East African Royal Commission Report in 1995. It is
39
clear, however, that the freehold is regarded in policy circles as the property
system of the future. This view is held despite the fact that current conversion
exercises are unpopular and do not appear to improve the asset value of the land
so converted. Besides the process of conversion has enormous economic and
social consequences. These include allocation of substantial resources for
adjudication, consolidation and registration.
106. Recent studies indicate that despite however, these costs, the freehold land tenure
system has not made extraordinary contributions to land sector development in
Uganda, There is need therefore, to review its place in Uganda’s property system.
107. That review will explore the possibility of -

i. converting all land in urban areas held on freehold tenure to leaseholds
and providing mechanisms that would facilitate automatic conversion
on expansion of urban boundaries.
ii. reversing the policy of conversion of land held under customary tenure
to freehold so as to present the growth of overlapping rights in land
thus converted;
iii. ensuring that the regulatory power of the state is exercised as
vigorously on land held under freehold tenure, as it is on other tenure
categories; and
iv. developing concepts and principles indigenous to Uganda for holding
land in absolute or allodial proprietorship.
5.2.13 Mailo land tenure will be phased out or otherwise liberated
108. The restoration of mailo tenure, though politically expedient, has come at an
enormous cost. For not only does it perpetuate an outmoded and essentially feudal
regime, the near absolute protection now accorded to lawful or beneficial
occupiers, has effectively locked out large areas of land from the development
process. This is likely to impede the growth and orderly planning of land in
40
Buganda, in general, and the Kampala metropolitan area in particular. Clearly the
mailo land tenure systems may have outlined its purpose.
109. Legislative or other measures will therefore be taken to either phase out this
tenure regime or liberate in from the restrictions placed upon it by the Land Act.
These will include-
i. the administration of a census of all persons living as lawful or
bonafide accupants on land uder mailo tenure to prevent sportaneous
invasio of such land;
ii. updating the mailo land register to re-establish the accuracy of its
property details;
iii. conversion of mailo tenure into fully-fledged freehold tenure or
conversion of such land into long term leases especially if such land is
located within urban areas;
iv. enfranchisement of those lawful or beneficial occupiers who can
establish long and uninterrupted residence and use of the land;
v. enactment of interim measures for the protection of occupants ahead of
enfranchisement to pre-empt mass evictions by landlords;
vi. establishment of a special tribunal for the resolution of disputes over
mailo land; and
vii. enforcement of constitutional principles outlawing gender
discrimination in respect of the transmission of land rights under
Baganda customary law.
5.2.14 Access to land through leasehold tenure will be promoted
110. The leasehold is a device which involves the derivation of land rights from a
superior title and the enjoyment of such rights in exchange for conditions,
including but not limited to, the payment of rent. The leasehold thus opens land
to a much larger range of users and use functions than either the freehold or the
mailo. It is important that access to land through leasehold or analogous
arrangements be promoted especially in areas of high land demand.
41
111. Measures will therefore be put in place to -
i. develop and avail to land users simplified standard form leases to
facilitate transactions involving land under any tenure;
ii. ensure that all leasehold arrangements are registered or recorded, as
appropriate, in state or community registries;
iii. limit the duration of leases over public land or land held under
customary tenure to periods not exceeding 99 years or periods
consistent with specific development requirements, whichever is the
shorter;
iv. encourage the use and development of urban land on the basis of
leasehold tenure only; and
v. facilitate the voluntary conversion of urban freeholds and mailo land
into long term leases.
5.2.15 Informal tenancies will be regulated
112. Informal sector development often occurs on terms which confer access to land on
a limited, temporary or nonlegal basis. Tenancies by occupancy, at will, or at
sufferance are common in urban areas or rural farmlands, Land use under these
conditions, although precarious, is important for both poverty eradication and the
attainment of ecological balance in these areas. State refusal or reluctance to
legitimize such bases of occupation and use is the cause of much injustice and
misery in urban and rural Africa. It is mportant that informal tenancies be
stabilised and regularized so as to facilitate the mainstreaming of land use
activities in the informal sector into national development.
113. Measures required to achieve this will include -

i. according statutory security for informal sector activities without
compromising physical planning standards and requirements;
ii. providing social infrastructure for informal sector developments; and
42
iii. encouraging land users in the informal sector to acquire more secure
tenure rights through the market, individually or as communities.
5.2.16 A framework for supporting land rights will be established
114. The vast majority of Ugandans may not be able to afford the cost of securing land
rights under any of the tenure regimes recognized by law. Lad rights delivery
agents alone cannot be entrusted to guarantee tenure security to the land using
public especially the poor. It is therefore necessary to put in place a framework
that would ensure that land rights held by all Ugandans are fully and effectively
enjoyed.
115. The establishment of that framework will require inter alia, that -
i. community management structures relating to land under customary
tenure are strengthened;
ii. civil society advocacy for the protection of land rights security is
enhanced and consolidated;
iii. land delivery services are further decentralized below to the local
authority level.
43
Chapter Six : Reforming the Land Management Framework
116. Managing land resources: their essential quality, multiple uses, and factor
influencing environmental change, is the development, problematique for the land
sector. Unless this is properly designed programmed, facilitated and supervised,
the contribution of the land sector to overall development is bound to be severely
compromised. An important strategic objective of land sector development in
Uganda is therefore that land resources must be put to sustainable management
and productive use. That objective features prominently in the LSSP, PEAP,
PMA, NEMP and the Draft National Land Use Policy which the government has
prepared.
117. This cannot be achieved without comprehensive reform of the framework of

management currently in force. Indeed that framework is itself a major
impediment to land sector development. The reason is that having grown over a
long period and in response to various political and economic concerns, remains
internally fragmentary, conflictual and highly centralized. Further, its
administration lies within many and different bureaucracies which are often
uncoordinated and in competition with one another for recognition and resources.
118. The land management framework is therefore in dire need of reform. That reform
must take into account the following principles, namely, that -
i. precautionary but achievable performance standards for land
management must be designed and enforced;
ii. an enabling infrastructure to facilitate the evolution of sustainable land
use practices must be created;
iii. land management systems must be founded on participatory and
socially internalized land use planning processes;
iv. institutional structures responsible for land management must be
decentralized, cost-effective and democratically operated;
44
v. the land using public must be educated on the overall goals and
advantages of public regulation of land use; and
vi. the effects of public regulation on land sector development must be
monitored and periodically evaluated.

6.2.1 A framework for the proper stewardship of land resources will be designed
119. To ensure that a framework for the proper stewardship of land resources indeed
exists, measures will be taken to -
i. develop and enforce adequate land use standard for development of the
land sector as a whole;
ii. provide capacity, through training, to enable land management agents
to function efficiently;
iii. revise policies related to all sub-sectors to ensure complimentarity
with the national land policy;
iv. deploy professional land auditors at local and community government
levels to monitor and enforce the implementation of land use
standards; and
v. install and operationalise an effective forum for inter-sectoral
consultation and co-ordination of land sector activities.
6.2.2. Effective land quality assurance measures will be institutionalised
120. One of the most serious problems in Uganda’s land sector is the deterioration and
degradation of land quality especially in rural areas and in peri-urban settlements .
The primary causes of this are poor land use practices, loss of soil and vegetation
cover through erosion, desertification due to climate change effects, serious
wastage and pollution of water resources and lack of adequate support services
infrastructure, especially for agriculture.
45
121. There is an urgent need to reverse this trend through effective quality assurance
measures and strategies. These will include –
i. programmes for the rehabilitation of degraded lands through design
and implementation of prevention and management measures;
ii. incentives for the implementation of land conservation measures and
adoption of natural vegetation regeneration techniques in land use;
iii. programmes for the delivery of community based land management
extension services; and
iv. training on appropriate soil management techniques.
6.2.3 Changing land needs will be carefully monitored
122. Land is a fixed asset and is becoming scarce in many areas. Rapid urbanization
and the projected modernization of the agricultural sector will generate further
demand for land by various categories of uses and users. The greatest demand in
the urban sector is likely to be for housing development, physical infrastructure
and recreation. In the rural areas demand is likely to focus on large scale
investment, resettlement of the landless and displaced populations, and the
location of service centers. Long-term measures for constant assessment and
inventorisation of land needs generated by these demands will therefore be
required.
123. The most urgent of these measures will include -

i. maintaining an inventory of land availability and suitability for
specific uses as part of the national land information system;
ii. encouraging the Uganda Land Commission, District Land Boards and
local authorities to establish land banks in response to land needs at
their respective levels;
iii. exploring the feasibility of establishing, institutionalising and
operationalising a robust land market;
iv. strengthening urban and rural land use planning processes to prevent
land wastage or sub-optional uses;
46
v. developing early warning systems for the detection of land depletion
in areas of exceptional physiological pressure;
vi. regulating subdivision of land in urban and rural areas to ensure use
optimality, of use, account being taken of ecological and specific use
factors; and
vii. facilitating the periodic consolidation and re-adjustment of land
parcels to facilitate optimal use.
6.2.4 A framework for the enhancement of land productivity will be designed and
operationalised
124. Although a national land use policy has been prepared, it is important that clear
guidelines for productivity management are available. This is particularly
important since the land sector in Uganda is dominated by the poor, women and
children using inefficient technologies of production. The objective of
productivity management is to ensure food security for all Ugandans, and surplus
production for income generation.
125. The Draft National Land Use Policy document will therefore be revised to
incorporate the following strategies-
i. the design of sound land use practices to facilitate the attainment of
orderly, productive and sustainable land use;
ii. the enhancement of the quality of land and land based resources
through appropriate conservation measures;
iii. the promotion of individual and community participation in
environmental action;
iv. the proper management of demographic and health parameters
especially in the rural areas;
v. the introduction of incentive schemes involving price stabilization in
agriculture;
vi. the introduction of appropriate and affordable technologies of
production;
47
vii. the provision of social economic and other incentives to induce
sustainable land use practices;
viii. comprehensive settlement policy for rural and urban areas;
ix. the provision of adequate support services including credit, production
inputs and extension services; and
x. the development of options for small scale community management of
irrigation schemes in arid and semi-arid areas.
6.2.5 The framework of environmental planning, regulation, auditing, and

monitoring will be reviewed and strengthened
126. A major environmental challenge in Uganda is how to prevent or control the

process of destruction of natural resources such as forests, wildlife, water and
wetlands, and minerals through indiscriminate excisions, unregulated harvesting
and politically correct investment promotions, or through pollution by effluent
and solid wastes generated by urban settlements. Although policies and
legislation for the management of the environment exist, these have proved too
complex and bureaucratic to permit efficient decision making in this sector. One
effect of this is that Uganda’s natural resources, including those protected by
international conventions or agreements are seriously under threat. It is crucial
therefore that immediate steps be taken to restore the integrity of Ugand’s
environmental management framework
127. Measures to achieve this will include -

i. the design of appropriate environmental standards for all production
sectors;
ii. the revision and restructuring of the legal framework of environmental
governance through the vesting of implementation functions in
stakeholders at the local and community land and resource use levels;
iii. the mobilization of community action strategies for effective
enforcement of environmental standards;
48
iv. the development of programmes for the rehabilitation of waste
disposal sites, polluted watercourses, and control of green house gas
emissions;
v. the development of a framework for benefit sharing between land
resource management institutions and authorities, and contiguous local
communities; and
vi. provision of special protection for fragile ecosystems and biodiversity
colonies, wetlands, water-sheds, lake-shores and drainage basins.
6.2.6 The framework of physical development planning and development control

will be reviewed and strengthened
128. Physical development planning at regional and local area levels, is an important
tool in the management of land under any tenure. It enables the state, local
authorities, communities and individuals to determine, in advance, the direction
and rate of progression of land sector activities by region and area. The primary
instruments for physical development planning in Uganda are the Town and
County Planning Act (Cap.246) and the Local Government Act (Cap.234). These
instruments, have however, failed to provide adequate guidelines for framework
planning at the national or regional levels, and little guidance for the development
of implementation plans in rural areas. Besides, planning authorities (i.e. local
councils) do not always have the resources and technical capacity to plan or
implement approved plans.
129. Measures to facilitate the review and strengthening of the physical development
and control function will therefore be put in place. These will include –
i. the divestiture of the provision of physical development planning
services;
ii. the preparation of a medium to long-term framework for a physical
development master plan for Uganda, setting out broad land use
expectations, strategies for the management of rural-urban population
migration, and the development of physical infrastructure for the
guidance of implementation planning authorities;
49
iii. facilitation of constant revision, by planning authorities, of
implementation plans for urban areas so as to provide effective
direction for zoning, subdivision control, housing design and
standards, and the provision of infrastructure services;
iv. the monitoring of the growth of rural settlements with a view to
providing infrastructure and services for decent lifestyles;
v. the design of a framework and capacity for land use auditing in rural
and urban areas to support national, regional, local and community
land use planning;
vi. strict enforcement of development controls, especially in urban and
peri-urban areas;
vii. the integration of all urban economic activities, including urban
agriculture and forestry, into overall urban development planning;
viii. the integration of physical infrastructure policy (i.e. roads,
transportation, and service lines) into overall national and regional
physical development planning schemes; and
ix. the review of all relevant legislations in tandem with these measures.
50
Chapter Seven: Reforming the Land Rights Administration
Framework
130. Land rights administration comprises the structures and processes through which
rights in land are created, refined, and recorded or certified; the integrity of land
transactions are assured and guaranteed, land rights disputes are processed, land
revenue is generated, and land information is inventoried, provided or otherwise
archived. The land rights administration system is thus the primary public vehicle
through which the land needs of the public are processed, satisfied and secured.
131. The land rights administration system in Uganda is typically beset by a number
of malfunctions, prominent among which are a high degree of obsolesce,
bureaucratic complexity, managerial opacity, operational inefficiency and high
transactions costs. Further, in Uganda, as elsewhere, land delivery, adjudication,
demarcation, registration and record-keeping, and survey and cadastral mapping
procedures and processes are operated without the benefit of computerization. In
addition, most land rights administration services are spread over some sixteen
departments and in regional and district offices.
132. These malfunctions have tended to impede the development of the land sector and
those sectors with which it has intimate linkages. In particular, they have
contributed to severe land rights insecurity especially in the urban areas and areas
under freehold or mailo tenure, as a result, inter-alia, of lack of proper record
keeping, persistent inaccuracies in land registry information, and general mistrust
of the land rights administration system. The land rights administration
framework therefore needs urgent reform.
133. That reform must take into account a number of fundamental principles among
which are that -
i. the land rights administration system must be designed and operated
with a view to enhancing and facilitating the management of land
51
resources both as property vested in the public, communities and
individuals, and as an asset central to national development;
ii. the land rights administration system will not function effectively
unless it is provided with resources and personnel at all levels of
operation;
iii. land rights administration structures and processes at all levels must be
transparent, cost-effective and accessible to the ordinary land using
public; and
iv. land rights administration must be treated as a professional function
hence should not only be delinked from routine public administration,
but more important, be insulated from demands exerted by political
elites bent on appropriation of land resources.
7.2.1. The land rights administration system will be re-engineered
134. The malfunctions endemic in land rights administration will not end unless the
system as presently established is dismantled and re-engineered. That exercise
must recognize the empirical reality in Uganda, namely, of the operation of
parallel systems of land rights administration comprising indigenous and
community based systems which operate as part and parcel of the social and
political organization of territorial groups; and statutory (or state) systems
governed by foreign law.
135. The process of re-engineering will involve a number of measures including -
i. further decentralization of land rights administration functions to community land

governance levels,
ii. consolidation and rationalization of the decentralized land rights administration
structures set up by the Land Act, in terms of cost, simplicity, efficiency,
accessibility and affordabililty;
iii. re-design of the hierarchy of the land rights administration institutions in
i. such a way as to enable community based institutions to operate as
the
52
ii. tiers of first instance in respect of land held under customary
tenure;
iii. development of mechanisms for full and effective participation by
land users, and especially women, in all land rights administration
functions;
iv. the maintenance of clear separation between the land rights
administration system and public or political administration, so
that land can be managed as property and not as political service.
7.2.2 Land rights delivery systems will be modernized and simplified
136. Land rights delivery functions involving the receipt and processing of rights in
respect of freehold, mailo and statutory leaseholds are performed by a land
registry system which is still manually organized. Land rights delivery under
customary tenure is, however, based largely on memory and folklore, which
through no less authoritative, lacks an institutional framework Neither system has
served the land sector well. Those systems therefore, require urgent
modernization and simplification.
137. The measures necessary to achieve this will include-

i. the establishment, operationalisation and regular maintenance of
community land registries for the recording and certification of
land rights under customary law;
ii. amendment of existing laws to eliminate the need for expensive
cadastral maps and deed plans;
iii. computerlisation of all land registries commencing with those
established in urban areas;
iv. simplification of all land registry practice through the use of
proforma transaction documents; and
v. design of a system for the systematic tracking of changes in
proprietorship through transmissions, sub-divisions, mutations
and boundary adjustments, to prevent distortions in land registry
information.
53
7.2.3 Capacity for land demarcation survey and mapping will be enhanced
138. Land demarcation, survey and mapping are functions which are integral to an
efficient land delivery system under any tenure. These functions support the
planning process in general, and the registry system, in particular, by supplying
accurate information on parcel characteristics, sizes, boundaries and servitudes. In
Uganda the performance of these functions has been impeded by inter alia
shortage of qualified personnel, administrative bottlenecks in the approval of
plans, and prohibitive private survey costs.
139. Capacity to discharge land demarcation, survey and mapping

functions will be enhanced through -
i. the provision of facilities for the training of land demarcation,

survey and mapping personnel by public or private sector
agencies;
ii. the adoption of simple demarcation and general (not fixed)
boundary making procedures in respect of all tenure categories;
iii. the privatization of topographical, geodetic, hydrographic and
triangulation mapping, subject to strict standard-setting and
public regulation;
iv. the recognition and conferment of official status to community
based boundary-making systems for land held under customary
tenure, and
v. setting and enforcing clear achievable standards for the
preparation of maps and registry plans by public and private
agencies.
7.2.4 The land disputes management system will be restructured
140. A robust property system will always generate a fair measure of land disputes.
For land held under customary, disputes are often part and parcel of social
reconstruction in specific community settings. The Land Act approaches this issue
by establishing an elaborate structure of tribunals with jurisdiction over a wide
range of land issues in rural and urban areas. The Act also provides for the
54
appointment of ad hoc mediators to assist the tribunals in the resolution of
disputes in appropriate circumstances. No specific recognition is given under the
Act to indigenous mechanisms of dispute processing or customary law as a
normative framework for the processing of disputes under customary land tenure.
This has created overlaps and conflicts in the processing of rural land disputes.
There is need therefore to restructure the land between disputes management
system in a manner that differentiates between disputes over land held under
customary tenure and those held under other tenure regimes.
141. Legislative and other measures will therefore be taken to ensure that -
i. the operation of tribunals are devoid of complex jurisdiction
and litigation procedures usually associated with ordinary
courts of law;
ii. the law provides clear choice of law rules for land tribunals to
enable the simultaneous application of state and customary
law depending on the circumstances, facts and characteristics
of the dispute before them;
iii. indigenous dispute management institutions are accorded
precedence in respect of disputes over land held under
customary land tenure;
iv. the progression of certain customary land disputes from
generation to generation is discouraged through the
maintenance of records of final determination at all levels of
jurisdiction; and
v. the finality and authoritativeness of decisions of all dispute
processing mechanisms are guaranteed subject only to appeal
to higher levels of jurisdiction;
vi. a special division in the High Court is established to handle
land disputes arising under any tenure regime to ensure the
development of a consistent property jurisprudence for
Uganda.
55
7.2.5 A robust of land information system will be developed
142. An important function of the land rights administration systems is to ensure that
accurate cadastral information is available on land sizes, location, proprietary
characteristics, values and quality. It is also important that information should be
available on utilities, infrastructure, topographic details, geodetic controls, socio-
economic and demographic parameters and environmental media. This is
important for land use planning and the design of a fiscal cadastre.
143. That information must be organized in a manner that is accessible, utilizable and
self-generating. A pre-requisite for this is the availability of technological
infrastructure (including equipment) that would guarantee access to accurate land
information. That infrastructure must be operated with due regard to social,
cultural and intellectual property considerations. Currently land information is
mostly held in paper form, manually managed and not optimally utilized.
144. Measures necessary for the development of a robust and technology-driven land
information system will include –
i. the procurement of the technological infrastructure needed for the
establishment of a decentralized system;
ii. the preparation and implementation of national guidelines, to improve
the quality and quantity of land information;
iii. the development of data standards for geo-information comprising
feature definitions, data content, spatial referencing, and accuracy;
iv. amendment of existing laws to allow for the use of modern technology
such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographical
Information Systems (GIS);
v. the reorganization, upgrading, and authentication of existing land
records in readiness for the establishment of a computerized land
information system; and
56
vi. the decentralization to and presentation of to and presenting the
proposed land information system in a language understood by
community level land managers and users.
7.2.6 Mechanisms for the generation of land revenue will be established
145. In Uganda, as elsewhere in Sub-Sahara Africa, the revenue and fiscal generation
functions of the land rights administration system are not fully developed. Part
of the reason is resistance by landowning elites, and fear by indigenous
communities that land taxation may be the first step towards speculative
expropriation of land. Decentralization of the land rights administration system
under the Land and Local Governments Acts has, nonetheless created
opportunities for revenue generation and fiscal management through land taxes,
land rates, stamp duty, rental income, and delivery of land services. It is important
that the capacity of these institutions to generate revenue be enhanced.
146. Measures necessary to achieve that purpose will include -
i. streamlining fiscal transfers between national, local and community

landrights delivery institutions so as to ensure equity in the sharing and
use of land services revenue;
ii. reviewing land taxation laws and creating other avenues for revenue
generation in the land sector;
iii. monitoring the performance of institutions charged with the collection
of revenue generated from land sector operations to avoid pilferage
andwastage;
iv. enhancing the capacity of local and community governance institutions
to raise and utilize revenue from land sector operations, and
v. controlling levies on land transactions in urban and rural areas through
the development of guidelines to be administered by local councils
costs on rural and urban.
57
7.2.7 Specific land administration functions will be privatized or divested to other
agencies
147. There is growing concern that the concentration of land rights administration
functions in government institutions and agencies is the primary cause of wastage
and inefficiency in the system. Indeed government performance in this area has
been described as one of “the slowest, most haphazard and development
debilitating factors” . It is now agreed that some of these functions should either
be privatised or divested to other agencies so that the state can concentrate on
policy-making, planning and supervision.
148. That process will be initiated through -

i. the creation of a semi-autonomous state agency/authority to manage
physical planning, land registration, land surveys, valuation,
mapping ;allocation of rights and interests in government/public land,
and the
management of land information services;
ii. the privatization of a limited number of land rights administration
services under guidelines established by the semi-autonomous agency;
iii. retention of the power of standard setting and supervision in respect of
the performance of those services in the ministry responsible for land
sector development; and
iv. periodic monitoring and evaluation of the performance of that agency
or private sector institutions.
58
Chapter Eight: Reforming the Regional and International Frame work
149. Uganda is a party to a large body of international and regional conventions,

treaties and declarations dealing, inter-alia, with human rights issues,
environmental governance and shared aquatic, terrestrial and other transboundary
resources. These instruments establish the international framework for
environmental governance and, in particular, provide principles which countries
party to them should implement to avert environmental disaster on a global scale.
Among issues identified by these instruments is the need to –
i. avert poverty and extreme hunger;
ii. manage global climate change through domestics economic policy;
iii. guarantee national food security;
iv. conserve biodiversity, and
v. resolve resource conflicts arising from trans-boundary movements of
population and animal species.
Land is clearly at the center of these issues.
150. Besides, as the country develops closer political linkages with Kenya, Tanzania,
Rwanda, and Burundi, many cherished domestic law principles will require re-
visiting. One of these is the fact that access to land is still linked not merely to
territorial sovereignty, but specifically to citizenship. The growth of a trans-
boundary land market which must come with a federal structure of governance,
will require harmonization of the property law of Uganda with those of other
partner states.
151. Compliance with or implementation of regional and international obligations

within the framework of domestic policy and law require that consideration be
given to a number of principles, many of which are, in any event, part of
international law. Among these are that:
59
i. the instruments creating those obligations must have been freely
acceded to, are not oppressive or otherwise burdensome, and will
confer benefits in excess of the costs of compliance;
ii. compliance is an act of comity, good neighbourliness, mutuality and
reciprocity;
iii. compliance will enhance the growth and development of the national
economy, expand economic opportunities for Uganda’s citizens and is
therefore a prudent investment; and
iv. compliance will proceed at a pace which the country’s social,
economic and political process can absorb, is not disruptive of long
term development policies and plans, hence will not introduce radical
changes in domestic institutions and structures.
8.2 Policy statements and strategies

8.2.1. Areas of policy convergence will be comprehensively defined
152. Regional and international co-operation on land issues requires that Uganda
should anticipate the likelihood of convergence with its neighbours in important
land sector issues. These include policy and legislative development, governance
of transboundary and shared resources, the management of population
movements, and climate change abatement activities. A comprehensive inventory
of areas of convergence will be necessary to establish a baseline for regional co-
operation.
153. In order to generate such an inventory Uganda will need to -

i. draw on the enormous literature that has been built up through
research on the shared resources of the region;
ii. draw on efforts by the African Union to formulate common land
policy guidelines for its members countries;
iii. initiate debate on the design and content of land policy guidelines
for the East African region; and
60
iv. promote negotiations for the re-establishment of institutions for the
management of common services and resources for the East
African region.
8.2.2. Possibility of regional convergence on land legislation will be explored
154. Although the statutory legal systems of East African countries derive from a
common heritage, significant variations exist in discrete areas. The most obvious
of these relate to access to land by non-citizens, the extent of regulation of the
land sector, and the extent of devolution of land rights administration and
management functions. The possibility of regional complementary in these and
other areas will need to be explored.
155. Preliminary steps in that direction will entail -

i. removal of all legislative barriers inhibiting access to land by
citizens of the member states of the East African Community;
ii. the standardization of regulatory mechanisms in the land sector;
account being taken of the environmental implications of such
regulation;
iii. initiating consultations on the design of a model basic land law for
the member states of the East African Community; and
iv. support for regional and continental initiatives for the
harmonization of property law.
8.2.3 A framework for the management of trans-boundary and shared natural

resources will be developed
156. Uganda shares many aquatic, terrestrial and other transboundary resources with
neighbouring countries. The most important of these are wildlife, dry season
grazing lands and the Lake Victoria and Nile Basins. Although treaties,
conventions and customary practices exist in relation to the management of these
resources, many of these are of doubtful efficacy. A new framework for the
management of these resources is therefore necessary.
61
157. As part of that exercise, it will be necessary to -
i. design and implement a system for the monitoring of the effects of
transboundary movement of migratories species on the
environment.
ii. negotiate and implement protocols for the protection of migratory
species.
iii. undertake voluntary abatement measures in respect of
anthropogenic activities which would upset the ecology of Lake
Victoria and the Nile Basin; and
iv. negotiate mechanisms for coordination and benefit sharing of the
resources of Lake Victoria and Nile Basin.
8.2.3. A framework from the regulation and management of cross-border

population movements will be developed
158. Cross-boarder population movements is a frequent phenomenon in the Great

Lakes region. These occur as a result of conflict, ecological or environmental
stress, or interactive accommodation among cross-border communities sharing
common heritage and culture. A significant proportion of these populations
sometimes end up being classified as either refugees or internally displaced
persons. Settlement or resettlement of such population often leads to severe
strains on resources and/or serious environmental damage. A framework for the
management of these movements will need to be developed.
159. Preliminary steps in that direction will involve -

i. respect for regional and international conventions governing the
settlement and treatment of refugees and internally displaced persons;
ii. the negotiation of protocols for the reciprocal treatment and settlement
of mass cross-border movements; and
iii. the implementation of measures, jointly with neighbouring countries,
for effective border management and supervision.
62
8.2.4 A framework for the harmonization of climate change policies will be
developed
160. Uganda is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (1997) both of which require collective
domestic, regional and international action to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions
to levels which would allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change.
Uganda, along with the rest of the international community, is thus expected to
take climate change considerations into account in its social, economic and
environmental policy. This will require policy convergence within the region.
161. Measures in pursuit of that goal will include -

i. the strict regulation of anthropogenic activities which generate
greenhouse gas emissions such as the burning of fossil fuels, forest
fires, and destructive agricultural practices;
ii. the control of the destruction of forests, water bodies, and other
phenomena which act as sinks for green house gasses;
iii. the encouragement and facilitation of the operations of civil
society networks concerned with ecosystem protection and
preservation;
iv. the promotion of efficient use of new and renewable resources and,
in particular, the exploitation and regeneration of indigenous
sources of energy; and
v. capacity building for rapid response to and management of
extreme events arising from variability in climate parameters.
63
Chapter Nine: Demonstrating Commitment for Land Policy the
Implementation
162. It is important to emphasize that once formulated and approved as the framework
for land sector development, the National Land Policy must be implemented. The
process of implementation involves the conversion of the policy principles and
statements into a comprehensive programme of land sector reform. The first steps
in this process will entail dissemination, public dialogue, programming, institution
building, monitoring and evaluation, and legislating.
163. This must be followed by the internalization and consolidation of the values
underlying the reform programme. Few countries in the East, Central and
Southern Africa region have gone that far. Indeed, many land policy documents
in the region have not as much as been translated into guidelines. Uganda must
undertake realistic measures to ensure that the National Land Policy is fully
operationalised.
164. Demonstrating commitment to land policy implementation entails acceptance of a

number of principles, namely that the process itself -
i. is not simply a technical and bureaucratic exercise but one which is
essentially social, political and cultural, affecting as it will, deeply
entrenched values and practices;
ii. will require economic social and political capital consisting of the
will and commitment to proceed and the professional infrastructure
and service to support it;
iii. will require full and participatory involvement of stakeholders at
all levels and in respect of all operations in the land sector;
iv. must be supported and facilitated by competent and informed
institutional arrangements operating with targets and clear time-
lines; and
64
v. must, ultimately, be legislated, an activity which could involve
new, revised, or amended legislation on a wide range of land
policy issues.
9.2.1 Realistic costing of the policy framework must be prepared
165. An important step in the implementation of any policy is to cost it, i.e. assess its
financial, institutional, personnel and infrastructure requirements. This will
determine the pace and sequencing of policy implementations. Such costing must
be seen not merely as expenditure, but more importantly as investment in a
programme expected to revitalize the land sector for immeasurable economic and
social benefits.
166. The process of realistic costing will involve -

i. development of cost estimates for all activities or programmes
anticipated by the policy;
ii. taking an inventory of existing resource capacity in the land sector
to determine their usability and level of short-fall in the
implementation of the policy;
iii. auditing existing and proposed new institutional structures to
eliminate wastage due to duplication, overlaps and unproductive
competition among various decision-making centers; and
iv. ensuring that the cost of implementation of the policy is fully
budgeted as part of land sector reform.
9.2.2. The policy framework must be widely disseminated
167. Even though the national land policy will have been discussed and agreed to by a
broad spectrum of land sector stakeholders, it is important that the content of the
final document be further disseminated. A broad programme of education and
dialogue must, therefore, be opened throughout the country. This would ensure
that the national land policy is fully understood.
65
168. To achieve an operational level of awareness, of the policy action shall be taken
to-
i. translate the final version of the policy into all of Uganda’s major
indigenous languages;
ii. train local and community leaders in the implementation of the policy;
iii. prepare a Uganda Land Policy IEC strategy and prepare materials for
civic education and other materials for public education on the policy;
and
iv. facilitate the organization of local and community workshops and
seminars on the policy.
The implementation of the policy framework must be programmed
169. A crucial challenge in land policy implementation involves the programming of

its various components. That entails, inter alia , the design of appropriate
legislative, institutional and further policy refinement strategies, preparation of a
programme of activities based on those strategies, sequencing the implementation
of programme components, and development and operationalisation of specific
indicators for measuring programme implementation effects.
170. Because much of this will involve other institutions operating on the basis of their
own independent calendars, programming must be preceded by the widest
possible consultation with government, the legislature, local authorities and
community governance structures.
171. For this reason, action will be taken to-

i. establish a policy implementation unit, in the relevant ministry, to
spearhead programme implementation through research,
consultation, capacity building and education;
ii. propose a time-table for the review of existing legislation and
institutional arrangements in the land sector in accordance with the
provisions of the national policy;
66
iii. engage the legislature, the Attorney-General’s Office and local
councils with a view to presenting, as a comprehensive package,
all legislative measures required to implement the national land
policy;
iv. design and strengthen structures for the co-ordination of
programme implementation between land related and other social
and economic sectors; and
v. accord priority to the implementation of programme components
that are key to the revitalisation of the land sector such as tenure
reform and the re-engineering of the land rights administration
system.
9.2.4 All stakeholders must be fully involved in the implementation of the land
policy framework
172. Ultimately the implementation of the national land policy will depend to small
extent on continuing stakeholders support and confidence. Stakeholder must
therefore be engaged at all levels of policy implementations.
173. In order to ensure that stakeholders are fully involved in land policy
implementation, measures will be put in place to ensure that -
i. a platform exists for professional organizations to discuss changes
proposed in the land policy and to identify appropriate strategies for
the programme of action under it;
ii. the support of stakeholders is sought in the preparation,
operationalisation monitoring and evaluation of the policy,
iii. the private sector is able to contribute resources for the implementation
of the policy.
9.2.5 The land using public must internalize the land policy framework
174. The implementation of the land policy framework will involve revision, overhaul
or design of laws and land administration institutions. Because land policy
67
implementation is not a one-shot affair, it is important to develop infrastructure
for the internalization and consolidation of the basic values expected to be
realized through it. Such infrastructure must consist of mechanisms and processes
which are information-based, socially relevant and politically feasible.
175. Mechanisms will therefore be put in place for-

i. continuous public debate and discourse on land issues
ii. self assessment and feedback by the land using public on benefits
accruing from the land policy framework.
iii. securing the full confidence of those who use, manage and administer
land resources
9.2.6 A framework for the continuous monitoring of the progress of land policy
implementation must be in place.
176. Land policy implementation will take a long time. It is important, therefore, that
mechanisms should exist for monitoring its progress and where necessary, its
revision. This must be based on appropriate standards established for integrated
monitoring of the economy in general and the land economy in particular.
177. Consequently measures will be put in place to ensure that -

i. a national land policy implementation monitoring and evaluation
system is established;
ii. the national land policy is reviewed at least every five years;
iii. all stakeholders, especially local land communities, develop
appropriate tools for policy refinement and contextualization;
iv. mainstream land policy values and principles are integrated into
Uganda’s political discourse;
v. the entire land sector reform package generates growth and
wealth creates for the people of Uganda; and
vi. the above strategies are instritutionalised.
68
APPENDICES
Appendix A: List of Land Sector Institutions Requiring Overhead or Establishment
(a) Institutions to be overhauled
• District Land Boards

• Land Tribunals
• National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA)
• Uganda Land Commission
• Lake Victoria Basin Commission
• Local Government Authorities (as planning authorities)
(b) Institutions to be established
• Community Land Boards (CLB)

• Community Land Tribunals (CLT)
• Uganda Land Services Authority (ULSA), ultimately a Uganda Land
Authority
• The Land Fund (LF)
• Inter-Governmental Committee on the Environment (IGCE)
• Post-Conflict- Reconstruction Authority (PCRA)
• Land Policy Implementation Unit (LPIU)
• Common Property Resources Management Institution (CPRMI)
• Agricultural Development Authority (ADA)
69
Appendix B : List of Legislations Requiring Revision, Amendment, Repeal or
Enactment
(a) Legislations to be repealed or amended
• The Constitution
• The Land Act
• The Survey Act
• The Registration of Titles Act
• The National Environment Act
• The Land Acquisition Act
• The Cattle Grazing Act
• The Local Government Act
(b) Legislations to be repealed
• Town and County Planning Act (1964)
(c) Areas to be legislated
• Basic Land Law

• Customary Land Tenure
• Pastoral Lands Management
• Common Property Resources
• Land Delivery Services
• Agriculture
• Physical Development Planning
70
Appendix C : List of Sectoral Policies to be Revised or Designed
(a) Policies to be revised

• National Environment Management Policy
• Draft National Land Use Policy
• National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland
Resources
• Community Protected Areas Institution Policy
• National Water Policy
• Minerals Policy for Uganda
• Wildlife Policy
• Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture
• Uganda Forestry Policy
(b) Policies to be designed

• Uganda Forestry Policy
• Lake Victoria and Nile Basin Management Policy
• Climate Change Management Policy
• Common Development Policy
• Livestock Development Policy
• Settlement and Rehabilitation Policy
71
Appendix D : List of Treaties, Conventions and Agreements to be Renegotiated
• The Nile Waters Agreement (1929 and 1959)

• East African Community Treaty (1999)
72
Appendix E: Preliminary Architecture of the Land Rights Administration System
Ministry of Lands Water and Environment
Policy
Administrative Development
Oversight
Land Dispute
Land Delivery Processing
Services • Boundary
• Legislation • Inter-
• Transactions personal
• Demarcation • Conciliation
• Survey • Mediation
• Cadastres • Inheritance
• Mapping • Access
• Land
State Courts
District Land
Tribunals
National Agency
District Land Boards Community

Land Tribunals
Community land
Boards Family
Councils
Land Rights Administration
73
Appendix F : A List of Land and Land-Related Laws in Uganda
1. Uganda Protectorate Agreement 1894

2. Uganda Agreement 1900
3. Toro Agreement 1900
4. Ankole Agreement 1901
5. Busulu and Envujo Law, 1926
6. The Ankole Landlord and Tenant Law 1937
7. The Toro Landlord and Tenant Law
8. Possession of Land Law
9. Uganda Constitution 1962
13. Land Act 16 of 1998
14. Uganda Forestry and Tree Planting Act 2003
15. Local Governments Act 1997 (Cap. 243)
16. National Environment Act (Cap. 123)
17. Town and Country Planning Act (Cap. 246)
18. Wildlife Act (Cap. 200)
19. Water Act (Cap.200)
20. The Limitation Act, (Cap. 80)
21. National Forestry and Tree Planting Act, 2003
22. The Condominium Property Act, 2001
23. Mining Act (Cap. 243)
24. The Survey Act, (Cap. 232)
25. The Land Acquisition Act (Cap. 226)
26. Public Land Act 1969
27. Local Government (Rating) Decree, 1979
74
28. The Traditional Rulers (Restitution of Assets and Properties ) Act 1993
29. Cattle Grazing Act (Cap. 43/42)
30. The Judicature Act, Cap. 13
31. The Land Reform Decree, Republic of Uganda, Kampala, 1975, CA
32. The land Regulations, 2004
33. The Wildlife Act 1998
75
Appendix G : List of Land and Land Related Policy Documents
1. The National Environment Management Policy

2. Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture
3. Poverty Eradication Action Plan
4. Land Sector Strategic Plan (2001-2011)
5. The Draft National Land Use Policy 2004
6. Issues Paper for the National Land Policy 2004
7. National Agriculture Research Policy
8. National Food and Nutrition Policy
9. Wildlife Policy, 2000
10. The Housing Policy, 1964
11. National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetlands
Resources, 1995
12. National Fisheries Policy, 2000
13. Poverty Status Report, 2001
14. The Uganda Forestry Policy, 2001
15. The National Forest Plan for the Republic of Uganda
16. Protocol of the Establishment of the East African Customs Union, East
African Community Secretariat (Ref. EAC/D4A). Arusha, Tanzania 2004
17. Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Project Report
18. Report of the Technical Committee on Land Tenure Law Report, Agricultural
Secretariat, Bank of Uganda, Kampala 1993
19. Uganda National Housing and Population Census, UBOS, Entebbe, 2002
20. Land Tenure and Agricultural Development Report, 1989
21. Land Disputes in Uganda (Vol. III) Resources Utility Case Studies (1996)
22. Land Disputes in Uganda. An Overview of the types of Land Disputes and
the Dispute Settlement by John Kigula
23. Report of (Odoki) Constitutional Review Commission 1982
76
24. National Gender Policy
25. Constitutional Review Report (Sempebwa Report) 2003/2004
26. Millennium Development Goals Progress Report, UNDP, Kampala 2003
27. Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries, World Bank, Washington D.C.
2003
28. National Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation System (NIMES),Offices of
the Prime Minister, Kampala 2005
29. Draft National Population Policy
30. Community Protected Areas Institutions Policy, 2000
31. The National Shelter Strategy Document (1992)
32. Agenda 21 (1992)
33. Habitat Agenda (1996)
34. Millennium Development Goals (2000)
35. Draft Housing Policy, Uganda (2005)
36. Land Sector Institutional Linkages and Co-ordination, Report by the Land Act
Implementation Unit and Land Sector Strategic Plan Task Force, Ministry of
Water, Lands and Environment, Version 2 by Deb Johnson, Kampala,
Uganda, May 5, 2001
37. Decentralisation Policy (1991)
38. Functional Analysis Report for the Directorate of Lands and Environment,
2004
39. Post-Constitutional Restructuring of the Ministry of Water, Lands and
Environment, Final Report, Ministry of public Service, Kampala, Uganda,
May, 1998
40. Report of the Land Act Implementation Study, 6 September,1999
41. Land Tenure Reform Project, Quarterly Report, January to March 2005
42. Land Tenure Reform Project, Quarterly Report, October – December 2004
43. Land Sector Strategic Plan Analysis of Economic Rationale and Investment
Programme by M. Adams & M. Aliber, 2002
44. Ministerial Strategic Objectives
45. A National Shelter for Uganda 1992
77
46. Briefs from a Report of a Study on “Institutional Set-up of Physical Planning
at the National Level”
47. Policy Briefs from 2005 Studies on:

(a) Revenue Generation, Revenue Utilization, Revenue Sharing and
Mechanism for Land Sector Fiscal Transfer (LOT 1)
(b) Divestiture and Privatization of land Services in Uganda (LOT 2)
(c) Integration of Traditional Land Administration Institutions in the Land
Act and Management of Common Property Resources (LOT 3)
(d) Resettlement, Landlessness and Internally Displaced Persons (LOT 4).
78

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i

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

Chapter One: Land in Uganda

1.2 Developing the Land Sector

Chapter Two: Drafting the National Land Policy

2.3 The Conceptual Framework for Policy Development

Chapter Three: Enhancing the Contribution of the Land Sector to National

3.1 Overall Policy Context

5.1. Overall Policy Context

A: List of Land Sector Institutions which will Require Overall Establishment

ACCNNR : African Convention on Conservation of Nature and Natural

Elements of the Draft National Land Policy

• Land in the national development framework,

Methodological Approach for the Development of the Policy

Consequently, measures will be put in place to ensure that -

1. According to the 2002 census the population of Uganda is approximately 24.4

2. In terms of structure, the population of Uganda is relatively “young” with 56% of

1.1.2 The spatial distribution pattern

1.2 The Nature of the Land Question

6. Colonization had an important impact on land relations in Uganda. In the first

8. In the third instance, by virtue of political sovereignty, the British authorities

1.2.2 The system of property law

1.2.3 The framework of land management

21. In addition land degradation continues to be a serious phenomenon within

1.3.1 An inventory of specific issues

26. An essential first step in that transformation is the design of a comprehensive

2.1.2 Policy development benchmarks

34. The policy development process is further informed by a number of benchmarks

2.2 The Conceptual Framework for Land Policy Development

37. The specific targets comprised in that goal are, therefore, to -

2.2.2 Critical land policy issues

3.1 Overall Policy Context

42. Land is a complex phenomenon in all societies. It is a resource in terms of the

Policy Statements and Strategies

45. In order to ensure increased contribution of land to economic productivity, and

46 This will be achieved by-

3.2.3 Access to land will enhance equity and social justice

Sustainable management of land resources will contribute to democratic governance.

51. Managing land resources is as much an economic enterprise as it is an issue of

4.2 Policy Statements and Strategies

68. In addition, strategies will be put in place to -

5.2 Policy Statements and Strategies

i. remove all structural and normative impediments internal to the

5.2.2 Tenure law must facilitate the development of a land market

5.2.3 Tenure law must protect natural resources

5.2.4 Tenure law must protect common property resources

88. Effective preservation and management of common property resources requires

5.2.5 Tenure law must protect public/government land

90. In order to accord effective protection to public or government land, legislative

95. Land use in Uganda, as elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa is primarily an activity

96. To ensure that constitutional and international provisions relating to non-

i. domesticate all international conventions to which Uganda is a party

5.2.9 Tenure law must secure land for pastoral communities

5.2.11 Customary tenure will be strengthened

5.2.12 Freehold land tenure will be reviewed

107. That review will explore the possibility of -

5.2.13 Mailo land tenure will be phased out or otherwise liberated

5.2.14 Access to land through leasehold tenure will be promoted

5.2.15 Informal tenancies will be regulated

113. Measures required to achieve this will include -

5.2.16 A framework for supporting land rights will be established

117. This cannot be achieved without comprehensive reform of the framework of