President Museveni has constituted a commission of inquiry into the effectiveness of the law and processes of land acquisition, land administration, land management and land registration in Uganda
The head of state has therefore, in exercising the powers conferred upon him under the Commissions of inquiry Act (CAP 166) chosen Lady Justice Bamugemereire to head the Land Probe. The probe committee will do it’s work in 6 months.
Catherine Bamugemereire beforehand headed the commission of inquiry into KCCA tribunal which was tasked to probe the fights at City hall then one to look into UNRA, which unearthed ghost deals and ghost contractors in the construction of the Entebbe express high way among others.
Her new appoint is to asses why there have been rampant land evictions and several complaints received from the public relating to land. These complaints, reported to numerous offices relate to land grabbing, delayed transactions and unfair treatment of genuine land owners, tenants and other land users.
The Commission shall submit an interim report to within a period of three months from the date of the first hearing and a final report of its findings and recommendations within six months from the date of the first hearing according to a statement from Amongi Betty Ongom the Minister of Lands, Housing & Urban Development.
Land disputes in Uganda are not unusual and, as the government dishes out land to foreign investors, it is the local farmers who are usually the victims.
In 2011, a report by Oxfam said at least 20,000 farmers had been evicted from a government-owned forest in Mubende and Kiboga districts to make way for a British forestry company, New Forests Company (NFC).
But in March 2013, the president set up another land committee to resettle illegally evicted people. The committee was headed by former junior Lands Minister Aidah Nantaba and included Wakiso Woman MP Rosemary Sseninde (now minister of state for education) and Deborah Asasira, from State House.
In addition, Museveni formed the Land Protection Squad headed by Major Jacob Asiimwe, whose role too is to protect people under threat of eviction. The police also have a land unit, which is supposed to handle land conflicts. In addition, some Resident District Commissioners also handle land issues, not forgetting the courts right from LC1 to Supreme Court.
