In a transfer aimed toward safeguarding the rights of indigenous communities and addressing land possession challenges in Uganda, Parliament has handed a decision urging authorities to determine a National Customary Land Registry.
This initiative seeks to guard land beneath customary tenure from unlawful land grabbing and extended conflicts.
The movement, introduced through the House sittings at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu on Friday, 30 August 2024, was moved by Kilak North County MP, Hon. Anthony Akol. It highlights the pressing want for a centralised system to handle and confirm land possession beneath customary tenure.
Akol confused the significance of making a centralised system for customary land registration.
“Our individuals need to have their land possession recognised and guarded. The absence of a nationwide registry has left many communities susceptible to land grabbing and conflicts that might have been averted,” he said.
He mentioned that the dearth of a nationwide framework for documenting customary land possession has led to widespread authorized uncertainties hindering improvement in lots of areas.
“The institution of a National Customary Land Registry is lengthy overdue. Our individuals have suffered for too lengthy as a result of absence of correct documentation. This registry will be certain that their land will not be solely recognised but in addition safeguarded towards unlawful encroachments,” Akol added.
The movement is anchored on Article 237(3) of the Constitution which acknowledges customary land tenure alongside freehold, mailo and leasehold techniques.
However, not like the opposite tenure techniques, customary land lacks a nationwide registration system leaving it susceptible to exploitation in response to the mover of the movement.
Akol submitted that as a consequence of lack of this register, the sub-regions of Acholi, Lango, Teso, West Nile and Karamoja, that are predominantly beneath the customary land tenure system, face challenges of authorized verification of land possession and are liable to incidents of land grabbing and protracted battle.
The proposed nationwide registry will deal with the problems by offering a central location for the documentation and verification of customary land possession.
