Govt earmarks Shs300b on pay off landlords in Buganda

The government has earmarked at least Shs313.5 billion to compensate all landlords in Buganda sub-region whose land is occupied by bonafide sitting tenants, Daily Monitor has established.

According to Mr Daniel Mugulusi, the undersecretary at Uganda Land Commission (ULC), landlords whose land was valued could have already been compensated, but the delay has been occasioned by shortfalls in their budget since the Land Fund is yet to be fully implemented.

In addition to landlords in Buganda, he said others in Bunyoro, Tooro and some in Ankole and Bugisu are going to be considered for compensation this financial year.

“The number of landlords to be paid will depend on the money that we are going to receive. In Buganda alone, for instance, we need Shs313.5 billion and of this,  Shs4.5 billion will be spent on conducting systematic demarcation and titling of land,” he said during an interview on Tuesday.

Pending activities

Mr Mugulusi said activities, including boundary opening, and sensitisation of leaders in districts of Mubende, Luweero, Nakasongola, Kayunga and Gomba have been conducted awaiting funds.

“We shall carry out subdivision surveys and systematic demarcation after making actual payments to absentee landlords,” he added.

ULC records show that the government has so far spent a whopping Shs64.7 billion on paying off 91 landlords to settle sitting tenants, commonly known as Bibanja holders in various districts in   Buganda.

This is part of the government’s wider plan to permanently settle 10,000 sitting tenants suffering endless land disputes between landlords and tenants in the region.

A total of   50 square miles of land has already been secured from landlords who are willing to sell off their land .

According to Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba, of the 91 landlords, a total of 68 of them have already been paid  Shs48.8 billion in compensation from the Land Fund, while another 28 landlords have partially been paid Shs15.9 billion.

Ms Daisy Nakandi, the spokesperson for the Uganda Land Commission, said they do not select landlords to be compensated. Instead, it is the landlords who express interest and the government surveys and values their land.

“It might be hard to provide the list of landlords lined up for compensation as the majority prefer confidentiality,” she said.

The ULC report of 2023 indicates that since the inception of the Land Fund in the 2002/2003 financial year to date, the commission has received funding totalling Shs219b and acquired 126,995.91 hectares of land.

Achievements

The report further explains that over 10,861 certificates of title have been issued to lawful and bonafide occupants in different regions across the country.

 In June, the government started giving out titles to a total of   475 sitting tenants in Gomba District after compensating their landlords.

A similar programme is already taking shape in the districts of Mubende, Nakasongola and Kayunga.

Recently, Minister Nabakooba revealed that the government needs close to Shs47.2 trillion to pay off all landlords across the country so that they can leave sitting tenants to settle peacefully.

Today, all land owned by the kingdom is being managed by the Buganda Land Board and is only offered on leases. But there is also private land owned by individual landlords and another 9,000 square miles that was reserved for the future generations.

This land [ 9,000 square miles] is spread all over the 18 counties that form Buganda Kingdom.

The worrying trend

 Land has in the last two decades become a sticky issue in many districts across Uganda, especially in the central region where wealthy people with land titles are evicting poor tenants from what they call their ancestral land claiming that they are illegally settling on the land. In the process of repossessing their land, many landlords have been chased away by angry tenants and in some instances the landlords have been lynched or harmed. Usually, politicians use land evictions as a campaign tool to get votes during elections. It is on this basis that the government is pushing for land reforms which state officials say are aimed at curing land grabbing.