Locals puzzled over freehold titles on existing Mailo land

In what a section of stakeholders believe to be an untenable and erroneous creation, the government is investigating the intention and origin of several freehold titles created on Mailo land titles within districts in the central region.

While a section of both the government and Buganda Kingdom officials trace the genesis of the problem to 1967 when the Central Government abolished cultural institutions and left a big percentage of the Mailo land titles under the custody of the Uganda Land Commission, the possibility of individuals who took advantage of the situation is also under investigation.

The minister for Lands, Ms Judith Nabakooba, during a recent engagement between warring parties on Block 207, Plot 2 Bulemeezi in Luweero District,  clarified that some of the Mailo land titles that had been under the custodianship of the Uganda Land Commission were recently transferred to Buganda Land Board (BLB).

“We have tasked the Luweero District Land Board and the Land Registry at the Lands Office in Bukalasa to clarify the status of this land. If we find out that it falls in the category that was recently returned to Buganda Kingdom, theN agreement signed between the President Museveni and the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi clarifies on such property. This will be sorted out,” she said.

The Bulemeezi piece of land is located in Makulubita Sub-county where more than 2,000 sitting tenants are up in arms against the different landlords who claim they acquired freehold land titles created on top of the existing Mailo land through the Zonal Land Office at Bukalasa.

“The good news on this particular land is that the Buganda Land Board is not chasing away the tenants, but it is the people who claim to have got the freehold titles on the same land that are the source of the conflicts. We shall ensure that this is sorted,” the minister told the tenants.

On Block 207, Plot 2; more than 13 freehold land titles were created on Mailo land titles measuring about 8 square miles that originally belonged to Buganda Kingdom before it was reverted to the Uganda Land Commission after the abolition of Kingdoms in Uganda in 1967.

In a recent letter to the Commissioner of Land Registration calling for the cancellation of one of the titles, the chief executive officer of Buganda Land Board, Mr Simon Kabogoza, clarified that a Freehold Certificate land title for Block 652, Plot 910 was created on the official Mailo land title of Bulemeezi Block 652, Plots 8-114.

“The official Mailo land comprising Bulemeezi Block 652 Plots 8-114 forms part of the estate which was returned to the Kabaka of Buganda in 2013. The land became the property of Buganda after the agreement between His Excellency, the President of Uganda and His Majesty the King of Buganda signed on  August 1, 2013,” he said  in his July 25 letter to the Commissioner of Land Registration.

A source within the Land Registry revealed that hundreds of complaints have been registered in regard to the land that was registered as Mailo land but was transferred to the Uganda Land Commission in 1975.

Several Freehold titles were erroneously created on top of the original Mailo land titles on the recommendation of the district land boards in central Uganda.

In the case of land where the sitting tenants are facing challenges, the Luweero District Resident Commissioner (RDC), Mr Richard Bwabye, says the government is investigating the source of conflict and will come up with a solution.

“When we discover that some of the freehold titles were obtained fraudulently, they will have to be cancelled. I also believe that the Kabaka cannot chase away the bibanja holders. The problem could be with people who have freehold titles of the land under investigation,”

Mr Ronnie Ssendaula who holds the Freehold title for Block 207, Plot 61 says he acquired the title from the land office in Bukalasa more than 15 years ago.

“My land title has no problem. I secured it from the land office in Bukalasa.I was only surprised when agents of Buganda Land Board claimed to be owners of my property,” he said.

In Makulubita Sub-county, Luweero, about 5,000 bibanja holders occupying the original 8 square mile land that was sub-divided into more than 40 freehold land titles are affected.

While the Agreement signed between the President of Uganda and the Kabaka clarified the properties that were returned to Buganda, the question about the land that had already been given away by the central government to different government departments has remained a big contention.

About Buganda land

During the 1900 Buganda Agreement, all land in Buganda was divided into two; crown land, which was under the control of the colonial government, and mailo land.

Mailo land was also divided into two; there was land that was given to officeholders and the other given to private individuals. The beneficiaries, by virtue of their offices, included the Kabaka, who was given 350 square miles, the Namasole (Queen mother) who was given 10 square miles and the Ssaza chiefs who got eight square miles. Other offices that benefited from the colonial arrangement include the office of the Katikkiro (prime minister); Nnalinya Lubuga (a co-heir who accompanies a king during coronation); the treasury; the attorney general and sub-county chiefs.