Prime
Mailo land reform is not necessary
Prof George W. Kanyeihamba
What you need to know:
- Consequently, pressed by many delegates who supported the President’s views, the assembly accepted some amendments to accommodate that position and rejected others.
During the Constituent Assembly proceedings and debates it was disclosed and well known that Yoweri Museveni, leader of a ruling party and President of Uganda, was not happy with all the land provisions inserted in the draft constitution as it then was.
Consequently, pressed by many delegates who supported the President’s views, the assembly accepted some amendments to accommodate that position and rejected others.
In the end Article 237-248 inclusive were unanimously passed and adopted as part of the 1995 Constitution.
Article two of the Constitution provides that: [1] this Constitution is the supreme law of Uganda and shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout Uganda.
[2] If any other law or any custom is inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail, and that other law or custom shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void.
The Constitution provides specific provisions for its amendments which cannot be simply wished away by those intending to amend it or ignore its provisions.
Fortunately, many members in the current Parliament were privy to sanctity and importance attached to the validity and enforceability of the Uganda Constitution. Since its adoption and coming into force many people have died or been maimed fighting or defending it.
Several MPs were former delegates who participated in the making of the same Constitution. It is therefore predicted now that the task facing President Museveni and those who support his wish to dismantle the 1995 Constitution, which he himself held on its promulgation as the best Constitution Ugandans have ever made, will not succeed in overhauling it.
A video is currently circulating in the country, visibly displaying people like the former vice president Gilbert Bukenya, Abdul Naduuli, former minister without portfolio, senior counsel Peter Mulira, with powerful voices vehemently opposing President Museveni’s stand on mailo land.
Mailo land is one of the four tenure systems the Uganda Constitution permits. The other three are: customary, free hold and lease hold.
The Constitution provides that land in Uganda belongs to the citizens of Uganda and shall vest in them in accordance with the land tenure systems prescribed in the Constitution.
Article 29 two [a] provides that Ugandan citizens have a right to move freely throughout Uganda and reside and settle in any part of Uganda.
Nowhere else is this right enjoyed fully and extensively than in Buganda Kingdom where the main land tenure system is mailo land.
George Wilson Kanyeihamba , retired Supreme Court judge [email protected]
