Bamugemereire: The scorecard

“Ugandans are emotional…the commission is trying to stir the pot and we should get the details at the base of the pot so that if they are not implemented, we as Ugandans could pick some of the issues and use them in our engagements with government,” Kirabo, who has done research in land matters for the last eight years said.

One of the areas that the commission’s work could be used by non-state actors according to Kirabo is in the annual planning and budgeting processes that could target enhancing land administration units especially at lower levels.

“The commission’s report can never be implemented in totality,” she said. “But I encourage the commission to continue doing its work,” she added, adding that Ugandans must be organised if they are to benefit from the process.

Josephine Ahikire, the dean at the College of Gender Studies at Makerere University, who has also conducted research in land issues across Uganda since 2005, told The Independent on July 10 that the public needs to be optimistic about the commission’s work because it is bringing land problems into one basket for public conversation.

If not implemented, Ahikire said, the public has the right to take collective action to implement the report through their members of parliament, political campaigns and media campaigns and also through those who are close to the corridors of power.

“Land as a sector has been neglected where individual interests have taken over,” she said. “…government actors that bring about these problems can’t be the same people to correct them.”

Ahikire said that she is not surprised about the issues emerging out of the commission’s work given that institutions handling the sector are in decadence.

Key emerging issues

The commission has so far unearthed and dealt with issues relating to landlord –tenant relationships; persistent land grabbing; double titling; management of the departed Asians Custodian Board properties and management of cultural and religious institutions’ land.

The other areas include encroachment on gazetted or protected areas (forest reserves and wetlands); abuse of office by public officials in land registration and land management processes and mismanagement of land by government entities; illegal acquisition of land by foreigners; tax avoidance in land acquisition; ignorance of the land law; use of impunity in land acquisition among others.

Betty Amongi, the minister for Lands has publically blamed widespread land wrangles in the country on corruption in her ministry and especially in top problematic ministry zonal offices such as Wakiso, Mukono, Jinja and Bukalasa. Fresh from opposition politics to serving in President Museveni’s cabinet, Amongi is yet to demonstrate her skills in fighting land corruption in her ministry.

One general observation from the commission’s work is that it is overwhelmed by the number of cases reported so far and, given that there are technical breaks that were never planned for at the beginning, most likely, the period of six months given to them to accomplish the task may not be enough. Some complaints are very complicated and the commission has on several occasions spent a whole day dealing with them and sometimes pushed them for another day.

Bamugemereire however, said they are still working with the deadline of six months.

But one official at the commission differed. The official told The Independent that the remaining time may not be enough to deal with all complaints coming in.

“Outside Kampala we have only gone to Wakiso, Luweero and Jinja and there are many other areas that we have to visit,” the official said. “And by the way, there are many more cases coming from these places that we have been to. Let’s wait and see but the mandate to extend the time is with the appointing authority – the President.”

The other outstanding issue that has come up relates to big names in the President’s office, the police, the UPDF and other security organizations, ministries and government agencies and prominent private sector individuals highly connected in government. Critics of the commission are basing on this to argue that recommendations of the commission may not see the light of day since the people being implicated are the ones that are supposed to implement the report in the end.

One official at the commission that The Independent spoke to said their mandate stops at writing the report but would be happy to see it implemented by relevant authorities.

“Of course we want our hard work to yield results for the people of Uganda,” the official said. “We will wait to see what happens like any other Ugandan.”

It is clear that the issues that have emerged have been around for many years and the public and government knows them. The affected people (ordinary, mainly poor Ugandans owning land) have always yearned for solutions but those with solutions have not showed commitment to tangibly offer them because they are part of the problem.