VARIOUS FORMS OF LAND RECORDINGS

• There are three basic systems of land

conveyancing or land ownership and transfer.
These are:
Private conveyancing
Registration of deeds
Registration of title (The torrens system)
 
 Conveyancing
• Conveyancing is the transfer of legal title
of property from one person to another.
• A system of conveyancing is usually designed
to ensure that the buyer secures title to the
land together with all the rights that run with
the land.
 Cont’d
• The conveyancer’s role is to carry out due
diligence – known as searches – about the
transacted property.
• These are designed to uncover factors that
they may not know about, which could
impact the buyer’s enjoyment of the property.
 The Private Conveyance System
• It is the most common system in developing
countries. 
• It is a system of conveying interests in land
without recourse to any public records. When a
vendor is selling to a purchaser, he simply hands
over the title deeds of all his predecessors in
title, as well as a deed from himself to the
purchaser. If the purchaser is satisfied with the
chain of title, the transaction is completed.
 Cont’d
• The purchaser in a private conveyance can
acquire only the title the vendor held, which
depends on the title held by the vendor's
predecessors. 
• Under Private Conveyancing, the ownership of
land was to be proved by long complicated
instruments (documents), which are kept by
the owner.
 Cont’d
• Any person buying the land, therefore, will
require the seller to provide these documents
going back over as many years as necessary to
prove ownership of the land.
 Deeds Registration
• Deeds registration system is merely a
registration of all
important instruments related to that land.
• In order to establish one's title to the land, a
person will have to ascertain, for example:
 Cont’d
That all the title documents are properly executed
"a chain of title" is established, i.e. the proper
ownerships from the granting of the land from the
government to the present owner;
There are no encumbrances on the land that
probably will harm the title of the land.
 Cont’d
• In contrast to the Torrens title system, the
registry is merely a record of all instruments
related to the land, the "owner" as shown on
the land registry record.
• It does not necessarily mean that he has a
"good title", which means a title that is not
defeasible or potentially defeasible.
 Cont’d
• At common law land owners needed to prove
their ownership of a particular piece of land
back to the earliest grant of land by the
Crown to its first owner.
• The documents relating to transactions with
the land were collectively known as the "title
deeds" or the "chain of title".
 Cont’d
• All deeds have to be sent to a central registry
office, which keeps them and indexes them
under the name of the grantee or purchaser.
• The registry office does not examine the
deeds or guarantee their legality. Any person
dealing in the land, then, will have to search
the documents and determine the status of
the land.
 Cont’d
• A person's ownership over land could also be
challenged, potentially causing great legal
expense to land owners and hindering
development.
• The effect of registration under the deeds
registration system was to give the instrument
registered "priority" over all instruments that
are either unregistered or not registered until
later.
 The Registration of Titles ( The Torren
System)
• The Torrens title system operates on the
principle of "title by registration" (granting
the high indefeasibility of a registered
ownership) .
• The basic difference between the deeds
registration and Torrens systems is that the
former involves registration of instruments
while the latter involves registration of title.
 Cont’d
• The system does away with the need for
proving a chain of title (Tracing title through a
chain of documents)
• The State guarantees title and is usually
supported by a compensation scheme for
those who lose their title due to private fraud
or error in the State's operation.
 Origin of the Torren system of Land
Conveyancing

• In 1840, Sir Robert Torrens who came from

south Australia, advocated for a new system
that could be used in Australia. 
• Sir Robert was of the view that there should be
a total break away from the private
conveyancing and registration of deeds. This was
so because of the dependent nature of titles
which necessitated retrospective investigation
of title each time land had to be conveyed.
 Cont’d
• He opted for a system of conveyance which was
simple to operate, secure and fair compared to other
systems.
• Thus, he wanted a single document that could be
conclusive evidence of a title to each particular piece
of land.
• Sir Robert Torrens’ efforts led to the evolution of
the Torrens system of land conveyance in
Australia in 1858 thus naming the system after his
name.
 Cont’d
• The system spread even to Australian states,
New Zealand, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea,
some states in United States of America and
Canadian provinces.  Since Uganda was a
protectorate, it was subjected to the systems
of Britain thus the system of Torrens had to
be inculcated in Uganda.
 Cont’d
• The Torren System was introduced in Uganda
by the Registration of Titles Act (Cap 205)
which was enacted in 1922 by Ordinance No.22
of 1922 and came into effect on 1 May 1924.
• The Registration of Titles Act automatically
applies to all mailo land, freehold or leasehold
• Customary land tenure is not registrable under
the Act.
 Scheme of the Act
• The system of Title registration under the RTA
revolves around a centralised “ Register Book”.
• This book embodies certificates of title kept in a
running form each representing a separate
parcel of land described therein and registered
under the Act. ( S. 37 )
• If land is brought under the Act for the first
time, the registrar is required to prepare a
certificate in duplicate
 Cont’d
• One copy is retained by the registrar and kept
in the register book, the other is issued to the
person who is registered as proprietor of the
land or interest and referred to as the
duplicate certificate of title. ( S. 38 RTA )
• Any transaction affecting registered land must
be endorsed on the register book and
certificate of title.
 Cont’d
• The duplicate certificate of title must always be
produced whenever any dealing concerning the
parcel of land is lodged for registration.
• The Act requires the registrar to record
transactions in such a manner as to preserve
their order of priority which is the order of
presentation for registration and not the order
of the date the transactions were entered into.
( S. 48 RTA)
 The Principles of the Torren system

• The Mirror Principle – This refers to the

“register” or certificate of title, which
accurately and completely reflects the current
facts about a person’s title.
• It does not provide for facts or changes that
could be registered but which are not. In other
words, a title is free of adverse claims or
burdens unless they are mentioned on the
title.
 Critique
• In practice, this mirror principle cannot be
absolutely reliable, as there are certain public
rights and burdens, which do affect a person’s
title even though they are not reflected in the
title.
 The Curtain Principle
• This means that the current certificate of title
contains all the relevant information about the
title.
• Thus, a potential purchaser does not need to
be concerned about dealings on any prior
title.
• Therefore, a historical search to verify that the
title is good is unnecessary.
 Critique
• Here again, this principle is not always applied
and historical or “chain of title” searches are
made in certain circumstances.
 The Insurance Principle
• This provides compensation for loss of rights.
• The principle is that the register reflects the
absolutely correct status of the land.
• If, through human error, a flaw appears and
anyone suffers a loss, it is made right so far as
money is able to compensate.
 
 Features of a certificate of Title
• A certificate of title is evidence of interest held
by somebody in respect of registered land.
• We have three types of certificates of title
each entered in its own register namely:
 Freehold – (volume and folium) ( S. 46)
 Mailo – (Block and plot number)
 Leasehold
 A certificate of title has three parts:

• Description
• Ownership
• Encumbrances
 Part one - Description
• It appears on the cover page and page two
• It includes the location of land
• It guides on the tenure of land
• It gives the size of the land being registered
 Cont’d
• If it is a leasehold the description under part
one would reflect the term of years
• From hectares we multiply by 2.471 to convert
it to acres and divide if we are converting
acres to hectares.
 Part II - Ownership
• It shows the current and previous proprietor
and their particulars.
• It shows the history of the land/transaction
carried out.
• It gives the time and date of registration which
refers to working hours.
• Shows the instrument number given
 Cont’d
• Signature of Registrar of Titles
 The first registration has one
signature
 The subsequent registration always
has two signatures i.e the second
signature cancels the previous entry
and the third signature enters the new
entry/ proprietor.
 Part III - Encumbrances
• Shows any burdens on the land
• Date and time of registration
• Instrument number
• Name and address of service of mortgagee,
caveator etc
 Deed Plan
• These are the manifestations of dimensions
land
• It is done by the Commissioner of Survey and
Mapping.
• It must be signed and dated.
• It must have the particulars of land.
• The new deeds now have bar code readers.
 Security features
• Seal ( S.53 RTA)
• Bar code especially in the new certificates of
title
• Signatures of the registrar of titles
Note: New titles are thin as opposed to the old
ones that are thick.
Essential Features of the Torren System

• The torren system has two essential features

that distinguish it from other systems of
conveyance:
 Title by Registration
 The Principle of indefeasibility of title
 1.Title by Registration
• Interests in land are created or transferred not
by execution of documents but by registration
in the manner prescribed under the RTA.
• S. 54 of the RTA is to the effect that no
instrument is effectual to pass any interest in
any land until it is registered.
• Ndigejjerawa v Isaka Kizito and Sabane
Kubulamwana (1953) 7 ULR 31
 Cont’d
• HELD: Neither the appellant nor the second
respondent achieved a transfer of the land to
himself by the execution of his document or
by paying the purchase price. Ainsley J
emphasised the fact that ….no instrument can
be registered unless it fulfils certain
requirements and no instrument is effectual
to transfer any interest in land until it is
registered.
 Requisite steps you would undertake to
establish viability of a transaction
• Three stages must be observed:
 Pre- Transaction ( Due diligence)
 Transaction ( Agreement of sale)
Transfer

Note: All these stages must be documented

 Pre-Transaction Stage
• Due diligence – This includes carrying out a
search
• S.201 of the RTA empowers any person upon
the payment of a prescribed fee to inspect the
register book. (Search fee is sh. 10,000)
• Due diligence is dependant on the size of the
pocket of the client.
• Search must be proximate to the transaction
 Cont’d
• Opening up of boundaries to ascertain location
and size.
• Under S.149 RTA the commissioner may require
surveys and plans to be made on any application
made or any proposed sub-division of land.
• S.2 of the Surveyors Act empowers the
commissioner to authorise survey
• Physical inspection to ascertain ownership and
verifying anything on the land.
 Cont’d
• Where sale is by individuals then inquire the marital
status.
• Inspection to ascertain whether it is family land.
• Citizenship
• True identity of the vendor
• Take the title to the land registry to verify
• Inquire from neighbours.
• Check with Physical Planning Authority
• Check with NEMA.
 Cont’d
• In the case of Sir John Bageire v Ausi Matovu
Civil Appeal No.7 of 1996 Okello, J.A stated:
“Lands are not vegetables which are bought
from unknown sellers. Lands are very valuable
properties and buyers are expected to make
thorough investigations not only of the land
but also of the seller before purchase.”
Transaction stage - An agreement of sale

• Description and address of parties

• Consideration and currency
• Terms of payment
• Vendors warranty as to title and
encumbrances.
• Right to vacant possession
• Execution of transfer deed
 Cont’d
• Legal costs of the transaction
• Clause on default and consequences of default
• Address of service of notice if different
• Dispute Resolution Mechanism
• Date
• Signature
• Witnesses
 Transfer stage
• Proper execution of a transfer deed - S.92(1)
of the RTA empowers a proprietor of land or
of a lease or mortgage, right or interest to
transfer by completion of the prescribed form.
• Execution of consent forms
• Both forms are assessed for purposes of
valuation by chief valuer for purposes of
payment of stamp duty.
 Cont’d
• Submit TIN number incase the value is sh.50
million and above
• Identification of both parties with passport
photographs attached on the form.
 Cont’d
• Pay stamp duty – 1.5% of the purchase price.
Stamp (Amendment Act) 2016
• Registration fees – sh. 10,000 (Registration of
Titles Fees Rules)
• Bank charges.
• Evidence of payment is indicated by a bar
code sticker on the transfer deed
 Cont’d
• The instrument signed by the proprietor and
witnessed is presented to the registrar
together with the duplicate certificate of title
and such other documents or consents as may
be necessary.
• Take note that the persons duly authorised to
witness the transfer forms are advocates with
a valid practising certificate which is duly
attached on the form. ( S. 195 RTA)
 Cont’d

• If the instrument and the accompanying

documents are in order, the registrar will go
ahead and effect the registration.
• S. 173 RTA – Instruments not in appropriate form
may be rejected.
• Registration is effected when the registrar enters
the instrument purporting to affect the subject
estate or interest in the register book. (S.46(2)
 Effect of Registration
• Upon the registration of the transfer, the
estate and interest of the proprietor shall pass
to the transferee and the transferee shall
become the registered proprietor thereof.
( s.92(2) RTA)
• S.46 (4) RTA is to the effect that the person
named in any certificate of title or instrument
so registered shall be deemed and taken to be
the duly registered proprietor of the land.
 Cont’d
• In Father Narsensio Begumisa v Eric
Tibebaga SCCA No. 17/2002 court held that it
is trite that a certificate of title issued under
the RTA is conclusive evidence that the
person named in the certificate as proprietor
is possessed of the estate in the land
described in the certificate.
 Kristof Zimbe v Tokana Kamanza (1954)7
ULR 68
• HELD: No man becomes the owner of land
until a statutory transfer of the land to him
has been registered.
 Ethical challenges
• Due diligence – Sometimes advocates do not
physically go on ground or the registry but call
and make inquiries on phone.
• Representing both the vendor and the
purchaser which creates a conflict of interest
• Giving bribe during the registration process to
expedite the process
 Cont’d
• Overbilling or underbilling the client
• Gift deeds
• Misrepresentation of marital status
• Under declaration of purchase price for purposes
of stamp duty. See Mudima Issa & Others v
Kayanja HCCS No. 232 of 2009. Court held that
under declaration of the purchase price is a
design to cheat government on its revenue which
amounts to fraud.
 Unregistered instruments
• S.54 lays emphasis on registration as a
condition precedent to creating or passing
interest in land.
• What is the fate of unregistered interests?
• Do they have any legal efficacy?
Souza Figueredo & Co Ltd v Moorings Hotel Co Ltd [1960] EA 926

• HELD: Sir Kenneth O’Connor P, concurred with

other judges by stating that though s.59 states
that no estate or interests in land can be
created or transferred by an unregistered
instrument, there is nothing in the Act that
renders such instruments ineffectual as
contracts between the parties. As such, it can
confer on the party in the position of
intending lessee a right to enforce the contract
 Cont’d
• His honour held that the respondent was
entitled to the payment of the sums due
under the contract to pay rent for the period
which the appellant enjoyed possession.
 Cont’d
• In Katarikawe v Katwiremu and another CS
No.2 of 1973 Ssekandi J, held that though in a
contract of sale of land an unregistered
instrument of transfer is not effective to
transfer title, the purchaser acquires an
equitable interest in the land which is
enforceable against the vendor.
When does the property pass in a contract
of sale?
Cont’d

• In Alibhai and another v Karia and another CA

No.53 of 1995
• The issue in this case was whether property
passed to the respondent before the transfer
was registered and if so when.
• Oder JSC, held that after the contract of sale,
property in the suit property passed to the first
respondent, who obtained the equitable thereto
and retained after the appellants had left.
 Cont’d
• Oder JSC further stated that the appellants in
whom the legal estate remained became
trustees of the first respondent and were
under a duty to transfer the legal estate in the
suit property to the respondent on completion
of the contract. It is that legal estate that
vested in the board.
 Shariff Osman v Haji Haruna Mulangira CA
No. 38/95
• In this case the doctrine of sale was referred
to as where the vendor becomes in equity a
trustee for the purchaser of the estate sold
and the beneficial ownership passes to the
purchaser, the vendor having a right to the
purchase money, a charge or lien on the estate
of the security of that purchase money and a
right to retain possession of the estate until
the purchase money is paid.
Kagumya Godfrey v Ntale Deo Civil Suit No.
298 of 2004
 Lysaght v Edwards
• HELD:
“ The moment you have a valid contract for sale the
vendor becomes in equity a trustee for the
purchaser of the estate sold and the beneficial
ownership passes to the purchaser, the vendor
having a right to the purchase money, a charge or
lien on the estate for the security of the purchase
money and a right to retain possession of the estate
until the purchase money is paid, in the absence of
express act as to the time of delivering possession.”
 Remedies available incase of breach of
contract
• It is trite law that where land is bought and
any substantial amount is paid on the sale
price whether possession has passed or not,
the vendor is always entitled to the balance on
the sale price and not repossession of the land
even if the balances are not fully paid.
• Shariff Osman v Haji Haruna Mulangira CA
No. 38/95
 Cont’d
• It is also trite law that in a contract of sale and
purchase of real estate the time fixed by the parties
for completion is regarded as essential in law. Thus
where the vendor cannot make title by the date
fixed for completion, the purchaser can treat the
contract as at an end and recover his deposit with
interest and the cost of investigating title.
• Kagumya Godfrey v Ntale Deo Civil Suit No. 298 of
2004
 Cont’d
• From the fore going discussion of the cases
the remedies available in case of breach are:
 Specific Performance
 Damages
 Rescission
 Indefeasibility of Title
• This means that once a person is registered as
proprietor of an estate or interest in land the
government guarantees that his or her title
cannot be divested or attacked by rival claims
to the land except as prescribed under the
Act.
Objectives of the indefeasibility principle

• It was designed to protect title of the registered

proprietor from unregistered interests.
• To save persons dealing with registered land
from the trouble and expense of going behind
the register book inorder to investigate validity
of title or possible rival claims to the land.
 Cont’d
• This in turn simplifies and expedites the process
of transfer.
• A number of sections under the RTA give the
meaning and scope of indefeasibility.
• S. 59 which declares that certificate of title
shall be conclusive evidence of all particulars
and endorsements thereon and that the person
named in the certificate as the proprietor
possesses the interest described.
 Cont’d
• S.64 is to the effect that subject to the
exceptions stated therein, the estate of a
registered proprietor is paramount.
 Cont’d
• S. 176 protects a registered proprietor against
any action for ejectment or damages.
• The application of the principle of
indefeasibility is illustrated by the case of
Lwanga v The Registrar of Titles (1980) HCB
24. His honour observed that one of the
paradoxes of registered conveyance is that
though registration obtained by fraud is void
 Cont’d
it is capable of becoming a good root title to a
bonafide purchaser for value.