MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DESIGN, ART AND

TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND

MANAGEMENT

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN LAND ECONOMICS

LEC3109: REAL PROPERTY LAW

NAME MBABAZI RHINET

STUDENT NUMBER 2100711683
REGISTRATION NUMBER 21/U/11683/PS

TO

Mr. OBALI GODWIN

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................................3
PRE-COLONIZATION...............................................................................................................................5
THE COLONIAL ERROR...........................................................................................................................6
UPON INDEPENDENCE.........................................................................................................................13
THE IDI AMIN ERA AND THE AFTERMATH UNTIL 1995IN 1971............................................................14
LAND REFORM IN THE 1995 CONSITUTION OF UGANDA AND THE LANDACT 1998............................16
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE 1995 CONSTITUTION OF UGANDA AND LAND ACT 1998.........................17
QN; Discuss in detail the historical evolution of land law in Uganda.

The historical evolution of land law in Uganda is a complex and multifaceted journey that
can be broken down into several key phases:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Pre-Colonial Period:
Before colonial rule, Uganda was home to various ethnic groups, each with its own
customary land tenure systems.
Land was predominantly communal, with rights vested in clans or tribes.
The traditional systems were flexible, with land use rights often based on occupation and
cultivation.
Colonial Period (late 19th century - 1962):

The British colonial administration introduced a new land tenure system, the Mailo system,
primarily in Buganda.
Under the Mailo system, land ownership was divided into three categories: Crown land,
Mailo land (
given to Buganda chiefs and landowners), and individual leasehold lan…
The historical evolution of land law in Uganda is a complex and multifaceted journey that
can be broken down into several key phases:

Post-Independence Era (1962 onwards):

After gaining independence in 1962, Uganda continued to use the Mailo land system, which
contributed to land-related conflicts.
Land reform efforts began in the 1960s and 1970s, with the Land Reform Commission
recommending changes to land tenure, including the elimination of Mailo land.
However, political instability and changes in government delayed comprehensive land
reforms.

1995 Constitution:

The 1995 Constitution of Uganda recognized four land tenure systems: customary, freehold,
Mailo, and leasehold.
It emphasized the protection of customary land tenure, as it was the most prevalent system in
rural areas.
The Land Act of 1998 and the Land Amendment Act of 2004 provided a legal framework for
land ownership, land registration, and dispute resolution.

Land Act of 1998:

This act aimed to streamline land administration, registration, and management.

It established the Uganda Land Commission and the District Land Boards to oversee land
management at the district level.
The Land Act also provided for the protection of tenants and customary landholders. (The
Land Act, 1998)
Land Tenure Reforms:

Various initiatives aimed to address land tenure challenges in Uganda, including the National
Land Policy of 2013, which emphasized secure land rights and land use planning.
The government launched the Land Information System (LIS) to digitize land records and
improve transparency in land transactions.

In detail

Land law is a body of law that governs and regulates all issues in the field of land ownership,
administration, management, transfer and resolution of disputes. It deals with the regimes of
land ownership commonly known as the land tenure systems which address ownership and
actual land use questions in society.
Land is an immovable and indestructible three-dimensional area consisting of a portion of
the earth’s surface, the space above and below the surface, and everything growing on or
permanently affixed. Land includes messages, tenements and here determents corporeal or
incorporeal and every certificate of title

Land tenure refers to the manner in which land is owned, occupied, used and disposed of
within a community or a society. The land tenure system determines how land will be
managed, that’s why the land tenure system matters a lot in determining how land should best
be managed.
. Land reform often involves changing the law relating to how individuals interact with each
other in respect to land matters. The law is reform or changed for a number of reasons which
include;

 To give the ruling administration powers to control land matters so as to cause

development in society
  To protect the vulnerable groups in society against being victimized by the powerful
landlords; women and children, land squatters and people with disabilities from loss
of access to land for their subsistence production.
 To guide on how people relate and interact with each other in matters relating to land
 To recognize and legitimize the reality of what people are already doing in relation to
land which has been accepted by the society
 To give land value so as to stimulate agricultural and economic development in
society.
 To ensure that there is protection of sensitive land for the enjoyment of the public and
the protection of the environment.
 The evolution of land law in Uganda has rotated around the changes in political and
administrative regimes that have controlled governance affairs in the Country. The
changes in the land law can therefore be traced from the pre-colonial, colonial, post-
independence, Idi Amin era and Under the Republic Constitution of Uganda of 1995.

PRE-COLONIZATION
Before colonization and the arrival of the British, there was only a single land tenure that varied by
ethnic occupation. Some say that before the colonial period it was no longer possible to identify a
single system of ownership because different ethnic settlements had different in Buganda, the
following rights of control were followed;

 Clan rights to lands that once existed on ancestral lands and can no longer be sold to
outsiders
 Rights of clans over land which was comprised of ancestral grounds and was not
alienable to strangers.
 Rights to the kabaka who held paramount title to all land in Buganda and who could
grant land to his chiefs.
 Individual hereditary rights stemming from long undisputed occupation or original
grant from the kabaka
 Peasants’ rights of occupation which entailed the peasants in Buganda choosing a
chief under whom to live.

In the rest of the country, customary practices varied from place to place however, none of
the communities recognized individual ownership of land.in some parts, there was
recognition of various individual rights of possess and use land subject to sanction by his
family, clan or community.
The individual had the right to utilize his land as he thought best, to rent out his piece of land,
pledge crops on the land but not the land itself, dispose of the land according to the
customary laws of inheritance, dispose of trees growing on his land, prohibit grazing near his
homestead and fence his homestead.

The clan or family had the power and right to settle land disputes, exercise the right or option
to buy any land offered by its members, prohibit the sale of clan land to an undesirable person
and declare void and land transaction which had not received its approval. The general
community had the right to graze communally but damage to crops had to be made good. The
community also had access to salt licks, watering of cattle and access to water from springs
and other community rights. It is therefore noted that customary tenure is pre-colonial
Uganda recognized both individual and communal land holding.

THE COLONIAL ERROR

when the British colonized Uganda and made it part of its protectorate between 1894-1962
and introduced several British laws to the protectorate including in the field of land
management. They introduced indirect rule as opposed to direct rule since Uganda was a
protectorate under the British east African company.

The colonial state in Uganda was built on the official philosophy of protectorate and indirect
rule rather than colony, territory or direct rule. The Colonial state didn’t

introduce radical changes in the system of customary tenure in Uganda. The dominant
economic structure chosen for Uganda was one of small peasant agriculture under
the prevailing customary tenure. However, other land policies which could accommodatecust
omary tenure were introduced to appease the local chiefs and get local political allies in the
effective administration of the country. The colonial administration thus introduced policies
which could accommodate customary tenure but still introduced new land systems in Uganda
under the various colonial legal instruments which included; Mailo Tenure, freehold tenure,
lease tenure and the protection of settlers and land occupants who were using the land
without owning the same.

Mailo Tenure

This system is not a traditional system of land holding in Uganda and is founded on English
feudal systems. It was established under the 1900 Buganda Agreement. It
was born out of the settlement between the protectorate administration represented by SirHarr
y Johnstone on the one hand, and the existing leadership in Buganda (at the time) represented
by elders and chiefs on the other hand

In 1900, Sir Harry Johnston, as Her Majesty’s Special Commissioner in Uganda, entered into
a historic agreement with the Kabaka’s regents (Stanislus Mugwanya, Zakaria
clearly the powers of the Kabaka’s government vis-à-vis the protectorate power and the limits
of those powers and, paramount of all, to affect a land settlement which, by giving security of
tenure, would lay the foundation for the economic growth of the Kingdom. This was the
Uganda Agreement of 1900.
It was later changed to read: ‘Buganda Agreement’
by legal notice of 1908. The agreement granted square miles of land to Chiefs and private
land owners hence the term ‘mailo’ deriving from the English length-unit (mile) which was
the basis of measurement in land allocations. The agreement divided the land among the
crown (Queen’s government), the Uganda Protectorate Administration, the Kabaka, his
Chiefs and missionary societies. The total land under

the Protectorate Government was 10,550 sq. Miles and came to be known as ‘Crownland

Partly owing to the fact that more land was found to be available than was originally
assessed, considerably more land was, after negotiation, allotted as private estates than the
agreement provided for. Furthermore, owing to an interpretation by the Baganda that

“1000 Chiefs and private land owners” meant “1000 chiefs and, in addition, landowners”,
thus the number of allottees under this section was, in fact, nearly 4000.

There were two categories of Mailo which were divided thus:

Official Mailo: These were grants of land attached to specific offices in the Buganda Local
Government. They could neither be sub-divided or sold and instead passed intact from the
original land holder to his successor. This official mailo was defined in sec. 6 (a)&(c) of the
Buganda Possession of Land law 1908:

Section 6 “Every man who has land for his chieftainship shall hold it as follows (a)For all
the time that he holds his chieftainship he will be allowed to take all the profits from the land
which he has, except as written in the words below. . . (c)To hold land in this manner will be
called to hold “official Mailo” and shall be governed as directed above . . .”
The holder of an official estate could not sell that estate but he was capable of leasing the
same in accordance with the Official Estates Ordinance/Act of 1918 (Cap. 203 of the1964 ed.
Laws of Uganda). This applied also to the grounds of official estates of Toro and Ankole
Agreements. So here, one held land by virtue of his chieftainship (office), thus it was not
private property. Under the agreement, it was clear that the 350 square miles given to the
Kabaka was to be Kabaka-ship mailo, i.e it was not private property. Official Mailo was
abolished in 1967 and these estates became public land.

Private Mailo; In such estates, some 1000 chiefs and private land owners were allocated
8,000 square miles of land under the 1900 Buganda Agreement. The Mailo land owner
held rights in his land akin to those of free hold. He was free to sell all or part of his holding
and to pass it to his successors either under customary inheritance procedures or through a
will. Approximately half of Buganda (more than 8,000 square miles) became
formally privatized, despite the fact that these mailo estates were already settled by small
holders under customary tenure, whose usufruct (land use) rights were not legally recognized.

Under sub sec. (a) of section 2 (Buganda Possession of Land law) 1908, there was
a prohibition from owning more than 30 square miles of mailo land, whether by one self
directly or by others for someone, except with the approval in writing of the Governor and
the Lukiiko (Buganda Parliament). Therefore, individual holdings of mailo were not to
exceed 30 square miles. The Buganda Possession of Land law 1908 prohibited a mailo owner
from transferring land to a person who was not of Ugandan origin without prior consent of
the Governor and the Lukiiko.

Clauses 15 to 18 of the 1900 Buganda Agreement dealt with the issue of land. The essence of
this settlement was that approximately one half of Buganda became crownland and was
vested in the Protectorate government. This is what was referred to as Public Land. The other
half was widely distributed in the form of freehold estates (‘mailo’) to the Kabaka, his
relatives, Senior chiefs, one thousand other chiefs and private land owners. These people got
square miles of land among themselves. Historical records show that the first mailo title was
issued on the 2nd of January 1909 though by 1964, the total number of titles issued was
48,519 (forty-eight thousand five hundred nineteen). These grants under the Buganda
Possession of land law, 1908, were in the nature of freehold. The new system thus cemented
individual title ownership
The 1900 Agreement, however, did not define the nature of the estate (tenure) that had
been granted to the Kabaka, Chiefs, etc. It was not mentioned in the agreement as towhat was
the character of the grant. The agreement was pre-occupied with the question of acreage. It
was not until 1908 that Mailo tenure was actually defined in the Buganda Possession of Land
law, 1908. Under Section 2 thereof, for the first time the word ‘mailo’ which is derived from
the English word ‘mile’ was coined (out of a corruption of the English word) to refer to land
which the government had surveyed and recognized as belonging to someone
(https://www.researchgate.net, n.d.).

In further criticism, allocation of the original mailo holdings in the early part of the century
was made without regard to pre-existing rights of occupancy and ignored the presence of
peasant cultivators whose tenancy rights were recognised under customary system of land
tenure. These people, who had been occupying the land in different capacities, i.e as bibanja
holders at the King’s pleasure; as Chiefs (Butongole); as part of Butaka (clan) land, now had
to adapt to a new system where they had a landlord directly over them and possessing title to
the land. They therefore could no longer hold their land as they traditionally did but under the
dictates of the new Mailo system

Other persons who wanted to settle on mailo land had to approach the mailo owner and get
permission to occupy a specific piece of land on terms agreed with the land lord. Initially,
most tenants paid little or no rent and labour services, particularly on large estates. Mailo
owners were considered lords of their area and their tenants were their servants. Even though
mailo owners permitted peasants to retain possession of the land (called kibanja) they were
occupying, this effectively converted them from customary land users into legal tenants on
private property. This fact alone laid the ground for the genesis of multiple rights on the
same piece of land, which is a defining characteristic of land disputes and relations as
evidenced by evictions and a land use impasse between land lords and tenants in
contemporary

Uganda The first sign of discontent in the relationship between mailo owners and tenants
which brought about conflicts in the mailo system led to the enactment of the Busuulu andEn
vujjo law of 1928 which provided the tenant cultivators with security on land and set a limit
on the fees which they were required to pay to the mailo owner. This law was instrumental in
preventing the development of a landless peasant class. It was enacted as a result of
complaints from tenants over the land lord’s increase in the rate of busuulu and envujjo (rent)
payable. Under this law, the rates were standardized and restricted and the peasants could not
be forced off their bibanja without an order of Court.

The new system with its change in ownership was particularly profound for those who held
land as bibanja holdings. They remained as such on mailo but on top of being subjected to
customary obligations, also had to conform to the Busuulu and Envujjo law of 1928.

The Toro Agreement of 1900 and the Ankole Agreement of 1901

These introduced an almost similar scenario in Ankole and Toro. Here the granted estates (in
the form of native freeholds) to a limited number of chiefs and vested in the crown all land at
the time which was waste and un cultivated. Part of the grants covered land which was
customarily occupied. The existing occupants had to adjust their customary occupations in
face of the new system of land holding. The relationship ceased to be entirely based on
customary rules but became entirely based on British law, particularly the Toro Land Lord
and Tenant Law, 1937 and the Ankole Land Lord and Tenant Law, 1937.

Crown Lands Ordinance 1903

In the Toro and Ankole Agreements (1900 & 1901 respectively), no mention was made of
land which was cultivated but was not included in the freehold estates. The estates allocated
were treated, unlike the mailo estates in Buganda, as grants from the Crown under the Crown
Lands Ordinance of 1903

In the rest of the Country (inclusive of Buganda, Ankole and Toro), two new systems were
introduced under the Crown Lands Ordinance, 1903. Under this Ordinance, the Governor was
empowered to make grants in leasehold and in freehold over what was called crown land.

It was not until the Crown Lands (Declaration) Ordinance, Cap. 118, was passed in 1922 that
the Crown’s rights over land, other than unoccupied land, land acquired for public purposes
and that covered by the Agreements, was clarified. The Ordinance stated that “all and any
rights therein in the Protectorate, shall be presumed to be the property of a person or until the
contrary thereof be proved, which promote freeholds and leaseholds.

Freehold Tenure

This is a form of land ownership that grants the grantee perpetual ownership of land
unconditionally with powers to sale and transfer. This form of land tenure creates inheritable
land ownership interests. This tenure was peculiar to the then Kingdoms of Toro and Ankole
in Western Uganda and was set up by agreement between the Kingdoms and the British as
native free hold. By these agreements the Kingdoms committed themselves to British
protection and became part of the Uganda Protectorate. The terms of the tenancy between the
tenants on this land and the titleholders were not negotiable and were fixed by law in
1937.Under the Crown Ordinance of 1903, the British also issued adjudicated freehold to a
small number of people and churches or religious institutions.

Ordinary freehold; The colonial administration created the first freehold tenure under the
Crown Lands Ordinance of 1903 with the intention of ensuring that the European settlers
acquired land for development in the protectorate.

The Uganda Order in Council of 1902 and the Crown Lands Ordinance of1903 gave the
Governor extensive powers to dispose of crown land in freehold with the intention of paving
way for European settlers in Uganda. It was until the 1915, when the British administration
policy changed to the effect that no non-African natives were to be granted freeholds and
instead, they would only be granted leaseholds which had time lines of expiry with conditions
of payment of ground rates. (Mukwaya, 1953)

The Governor of the protectorate suspended all freeholds and convert them into leaseholds
accordingly as ordered by the colonial master based in London. This ban was made a
permanent feature of the colonial administration land policy in Uganda and this has continued
up to the present-day Uganda were foreigners only own land in form of leaseholds

Native freehold

The term ‘native freehold referred to the freehold tenure which was peculiar to the Kingdoms
of Toro and Ankole under the protectorate administration in Uganda. These freeholds were
granted by the British colonial administration pursuant to the 1900 Toro Agreement and the
1901 Ankole Agreement with the British. Under the agreements, approximately 255squares
miles in each Kingdom were allocated to the King and a few of the most senior chiefs for
their private ownership and about 122 square miles were allocated to them as official estates.

All the freehold grants were made from the crown land and were subject to the Crown Lands
Ordinance of 1903.It is important to note that native freehold just like mailo was subject to
the rights of the customary tenants as per the Landlord and Tenant Law of 1937, which
entitled tenants to inheritable permanent rights of occupancy, transferable and non-eviction
except with an order of court. The tenant was however required to pay busuulu on nominal
fixed rates.

Adjudicated freehold; The adjudicated freeholds were created under the Kigezi, Bugisu and
Ankole land registration pilot schemes. In 1955 the protectorate government announced
proposal to encourage individual ownership of land amongst the indigenous people in areas
which were predominantly owned customarily. These proposals were overwhelming rejected
in most Districts, as the indigenous people were suspicious of the administration’s motives.
The proposals for adjudicated freehold were eventually accepted in the District of Kigezi and
subsequently Ankole and Busgisu mainly because of the population pressure in these areas
that forced people to have individual land holdings.

Leasehold

Leasehold is an interest in land as a result of an agreement between a lessor and lessee that
the lessee will enjoy exclusive possession of the land of the lessor for a specific and certain
duration in consideration of a payment it can be either private or statutory. The British
introduced the system in Uganda in 1915 when the colonial administration abolished the
granting of freehold to non-natives. The leasehold was to apply to the European settlers in the
protectorate all the land they freeholds they had acquired were suspended and leaseholds
issued. This tenure system became entrenched into the Uganda system during the colonial
time and continued even after under the various legal regimes. The granting in Leasehold and
Free hold by the Governor brought about two influences on the customary system of land
holding

i) A person customarily using land together with others, or holding landcustomarily,

could opt out of the customary arrangement and instead apply for a leasehold or
freehold title.
ii) ii) It became increasingly possible for people to be bought out from theircustomari
ly held pieces of land.

Customary tenure

Customary tenure also achieved some recognition during the colonial period. While
technically all land except mailo and native freehold was said to belong to the Crown, the
Crown Lands Ordinance of 1903 granted indigenous Ugandans the ‘right’ to occupy un-
alienated’ land (i.e. land that had not been granted to someone else through freehold or
leasehold) in accordance with their customary law. Customary tenants had few rights and if
the British Governor chose to sell or lease their land to someone else and this precarious
status was confirmed by the Public Lands Act 1962, which came into effect in the same year
that Uganda achieved its independence from Britain. The primary point here is to note that
the colonial administration recognised customary tenure of land ownership despite of its
weak nature.

The other key aspect of the land law during the colonial era was the protection of occupants
and settlers on Mailo and freehold lands. Refer to the discussion above on the Busulu and
Envujjo law of 1928 and the land lord and tenant law of 1937

UPON INDEPENDENCE

Upon independence, the 1962 constitution of Uganda and the Public Land Act of the same
year retained the land systems established by the colonial government. The land systems
maintained the Mailo tenure, freehold tenure, the leasehold and the customary tenure with
confirmation of certain rights and provision on restrictions. The independence land system
also recognised the rights of occupants and settlers and protected them against eviction by the
landlords with due process. (Busingye, 2002)

The Customary tenants for example had few rights if the British Governor chose to sell or
lease their land to someone else and this precarious status was confirmed by the Public Lands
Act 1962, which came into effect in the same year that Uganda achieved its independence
from Britain.

Thus, land held customarily became subject to market forces and individualized dealings.
Sec. 24 (2) of the Public Lands Act, 1969 sanctioned the practice of people selling their
customary land to those ready to get title. It states as follows:

“A controlling authority shall not make a grant in freehold or leasehold of public land which,
or part of which is occupied by persons holding by customary tenure, without the consent of
such persons.”

One important legal development after independence was the Public Lands Act 1969, which
extended the rights of those holding lands under customary tenure. Under this Act, land
lawfully occupied by customary tenants could no longer be alienated without the consent of
its occupants. Any person applying for grant of public land was required to state in the
application whether or not the land was occupied by customary tenants and, if so, whether
these had freely consented to the proposed alienation. The Act also gave customary tenants
the right to apply for a lease over the lands that they occupied

THE IDI AMIN ERA AND THE AFTERMATH UNTIL 1995IN 1971
Idi Amin overthrew Milton Obote in a coup to establish a military government. This
Government passed the Land Reform Decree 1975, which declared all land in Uganda to be
publicly owned and centrally vested with the Ugandan Land Commission.

The Ugandan Land Commission was granted the sole power to manage and allocate land on
behalf of the State. All previous forms of freehold were abolished and converted into
leaseholds. The decree-imposed development conditions against these leaseholds and failure
to comply with them, within a specified time period, could result in forfeiture of the land to
the Government. Sale or sub-lease of the converted leaseholds was forbidden without the
express written permission of the Commission. Customary tenants also lost the limited
protections given to them by the Public Lands Act 1969.The Ugandan Land Commission was
empowered to lease land occupied by customary tenants without their consent. The right of
Ugandans to occupy unalienated public land by customary tenure, without the Government’s
express permission, was also prohibited and became an offence punishable by up to one
year’s imprisonment. Customary tenants retained their right to sell or give away their tenure,
provided that this did not vest any title in the transferee. Any transfer of customary land
rights that did purport to grant such title became a criminal offence punishable by two years’
imprisonment (NAKAZAWA, 2020)

The Land Reform Decree 1975 was intended to give the Government of Uganda greater
control over the use and management of land. By making security of land tenure dependent
on land use it was hoped that this would boost agricultural development
and production. This reflected a general hostility towards both the concept of privateownershi
p and the social and economic position of rural small-holder producers, which was shared by
many post-colonial governments of the time. Although sometimes expressed in leftist
language, it masked a deep-seated prejudice against the ‘backwardness’ of the countryside by
the new ruling elites who wished to develop their countries through rapid, centrally-planned
economic growth.

Three years previously, in 1972, Amin’s Government had expropriated the properties of
thousands of Ugandans of Asian extraction and expelled them from the country. The law for
the management of these expropriated properties was consolidated into the Assets of
Departing

Asians Decree 1973. Although the Government did commit itself to paying some
compensation to the previous owners, at a value to be determined by a Board of Valuers, very
little money was actually paid.

The final years of Amin’s regime were marked by rapid economic decline and growing

lawlessness and corruption. Most of the provisions of the Land Reform Decree 1975were
never implemented, although it remained formally on the statute books until it was repealed
by the Land Act 1998. This period coincided with Uganda’s descent into a

series of bloody conflicts, which greatly weakened the authority of its central government and
led to a virtual collapse of the rule of law in parts of the country.

After the fall of Amin’s regime, in 1979, the new Government, under pressure from foreign
donors such as Britain, passed the Expropriated Properties Act 1982, which aimed to restore
the businesses, land and other properties to those who had lost them under the previous
Government. Attempts to enforce the provisions of this Act have led to numerous legal
challenges, particularly where the property in question was held by non-Ugandan citizens.

A more general proposal to reform Uganda’s system of land tenure was contained in a study
on agricultural policy carried out by the Makerere Institute of Social Research, together with
the Land Center of the University of Wisconsin in the mid-1980s.The main proposals from
the studies were

Abolition of the Land Reform Decree 1975, which vested all land in the State

 The conversion of all mailo land to freehold

 A requirement that customary tenants on former public land should apply for
freehold.
 Leases on public land to be converted to freehold.
 The update and decentralization of the Land Registry

The recommendations of this study and other various research informed the reforms that were
to be adopted by the Government of Uganda in 1995 during the promulgation of the
Constitution and the subsequent land Act of 1998
LAND REFORM IN THE 1995 CONSITUTION OF UGANDA AND THE LANDACT
1998
Uganda enacted a new land law in 1998 whose primary objective was to operationalize the
land reforms in the 1995 Constitution. It should be noted that the 1995
Constitution brought about fundamental reforms in ownership, tenure management and contr
ol ofland in Uganda. The country has now embarked on the gigantic exercise of
implementing this new land law. The land law of 1998 has had many contentious issues and
it should be observed that the Land Act was from day one was received with suspicion,
apathy, fear and outright rejection from some quarters of society.

In Uganda, the Land reform process leading to the enactment of the Land Act 1998
was based on three principles (The Constitution Of Uganda, 1995, kampala) (Land Tenure
Reform in Uganda):

A good Land tenure system should support agricultural development through

the function of land market which permits those who have rights in land tovoluntarily sell
their land and for progressive framers to gain access to land

A good land tenure system should not force people off the land, particularly those who
have no other way to earn a reasonable living or to survive. Land tenure system should
protect people’s rights in land so they are not forced off the land before there are jobs
available in the non-agricultural sector of the economy.

A good land tenure system should be uniform throughout the country

the absence of a Land Policy in Uganda, it was envisaged that those three principles would
guide Uganda in its land reform process during the enactment of the Land Act of1998.

Objectives of the Land Act 1998

The main objectives of the Land Act can be summarised as follows:

 To provide security of tenure to all land users (the case of the Uganda they are mainly
customary land holders- referred to as customary tenants on public land) and the
lawful or bonafide occupants on registered land.
 To resolve the land use impasse between the registered owners (mailo, freehold and
leasehold) and the lawful and bonafide occupants of this land. Prior to the passing of
the new land law, substantial areas of potentially productive rural land had remained
idle or under-utilized due to lack of incentives to invest on the part of either registered
 owners or tenants. Registered owners had difficulty in evicting tenants in order to
develop the land although the old law permitted it under certain conditions while the
tenants lacked sufficient security. This inhibited land markets in urban areas where
purchasers experienced difficulties in purchasing secure property holdings.
 To recognise customary tenure as legal tenure equal to other tenures.
 To provide an institutional framework for the control and management of land under a
decentralised system. This is for the purposes of effecting the devolution of authority
over land management/ administration as provided for in the 1995Constitution.
 To ensure proper planning and well-coordinated development of urban areas.
 To ensure sustainable land use and development throughout the country to conserve
the environment.
 To redress historical imbalances and injustices in the ownership and control of land.
 To provide for government and local government to acquire land compulsorily in the
public interest and public use, public safety, public order, public morality or public
health

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE 1995 CONSTITUTION OF UGANDA AND LAND

ACT 1998
Security of Tenure

Land Ownership

Article 237 of the constitution provides that land in Uganda shall belong to the citizens of
Uganda and shall vest in them in accordance with four tenure systems: Customary, Freehold,
Mailo and Leasehold. This provision is re-enacted in section 3 of the Land Act. This clause
totally reverses the old system where land was vested in the public land.
Now, individuals’ rights to land have been secured by virtue of occupation. The state no
longer controls ownership of land in Uganda. (Land Transactions in Ugandan Experience)
Customary Ownership

Article 237 (4) (a) of the constitution recognises customary tenure as one of the forms of
holding land in Uganda. The majority of Ugandans hold land under customary tenure; this
provision therefore guarantees them security of land ownership. These tenants on customary
land can now acquire a certificate of customary ownership on the land they occupy and they
can convert this certificate to a freehold title. This certificate of customary ownership has
been accorded value under the Land Act enabling it to be transferred, mortgaged, or
otherwise pledged. This will enable holders of a certificate of customary ownership to have
access to credit

Tenants on Registered Land

The constitution guarantees security of tenure to tenants on registered land commonly

referred to as lawful or Bonafide occupants. These tenants can acquire a certificate of
occupancy on the land they occupy and if they so wish, they can negotiate with the registered
owner to be able to acquire a freehold title. These tenants on registered land are to pay the
registered owner of land a ground rent of not more than 1,000/=. Failure to do this for two (2)
consecutive years may lead the tenant to lose his security if he/she does not have sufficient
reason for not paying. The registered owner cannot ask the tenants for anything else
(including things in kind) except that 1,000/= provided for the certificate of occupancy can
also be mortgaged, pledged or transferred. The tenant by occupancy also has the right to pass
on his tenancy in a will.
communal land ownership

The Land Act recognises the right of people to hold communal land. The people may if they
so wish form themselves into a communal land association and this association
may be incorporated.
The communal land Association may also form a common landmanagement scheme by
which the members agree to manage the communal land and to set out their rights and duties.

Women and other vulnerable groups

The Land Act in S.40 requires that before any transaction can be carried out on land on which
a family resides or from which it derives a sustenance, the spouse, dependent children of
majority age and the Land Committee in case of children under the age of majority should be
consulted. The Land Act also provides in accordance with constitutional provisions, that any
customary provisions, that any customary practices which deny women, children or use of
any land shall be null and void. The Land Committees have the duty of ensuring that the
rights of vulnerable groups are protected. Land

Management Institutions

the Land Act in pursuance of the overall government policy of decentralisation has
decentralized land management and dispute settlement mechanism. The legislation requires
the creation of a very large number of new institutions for land management/administration
and land dispute resolution. These have been designed to shift the focus of land management
to the local level, and provide for effective community involvement in land management
decisions.
The Land Management hierarchy starts with the Uganda Land Commission, which shall
responsible for any government land and related issues. The District land boardsindependent
from the Uganda Land Commission and from any other government organ or person are in
charge of all land in the district. The land committees set up in each parish gazetted urban
area or a division in the case of Kampala as advisory role to the District Land Board
References
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Busingye, H. (2002). Land Tenure Reform in Uganda. Johannesburg.

Land Tenure Reform in Uganda. (n.d.). journal of African Development , 31(1).

Land Transactions in Ugandan Experience. (n.d.). Makerere University.

Mukwaya, A. (1953). Principles of Land Law in Uganda. Kampala: Fountain publisher.

NAKAZAWA, M. (2020). Land Policy Reforms and Land Rights in Rural Uganda. 13.

The Constitution Of Uganda. (1995, kampala).

The Land Act. (1998). Uganda: parliament.