Tag: Uganda
Navigating the Mailo Impasse: An In-Depth Analysis of Uganda’s National Land Policy and its Four Options for Resolution
In 2013, Uganda embraced the National Land Policy (NLP), outlining a crucial mission in paragraph 44: to disentangle the complex web of interests and rights surrounding Mailo Land Tenure and Native Freehold Tenure. The roots of this initiative were deeply embedded in the persistent land question, a legacy of colonialism that led to overlapping and conflicting tenure rights.
The NLP’s commitment stemmed from various challenges:
a) Colonial Legacy: Uganda’s land question, a result of colonial influences, triggered conflicting tenure rights that demanded resolution.
b) Contestation of Rights: Ongoing disputes over the definition of rights granted to bonafide occupants in the Land Act (Cap 227) fueled the need for a comprehensive solution.
c) Statutory Protection: The Land Amendment Act (2010) attempted to protect bonafide occupants from arbitrary evictions, but the prescribed nominal ground rent was often overlooked by registered landowners.
d) Escalating Conflicts: Evictions, land disputes, and conflicts reached a deadlock as the prescribed tenant-landlord relationship failed to regulate the relationship between tenants and registered landowners effectively.
To address these issues, four options were proposed: Land sharing, buyout, leasehold, and certificate of occupancy. Despite having regulatory processes, a decade later, the implementation of these options remains a challenge.
This study delves into the status and issues surrounding the proposed options, examining the experiences of Ugandan citizens settled on Mailo land. As a result, evidence-based recommendations are put forth to enhance the policy’s proposed solutions, aiming to break the Mailo impasse and provide a clearer path for sustainable land use in Uganda.
For the full report, click here.
For the full Policy Brief, click here.
From the Ground Up: How Land Governance Sensitization Workshops in East Africa are Empowering Educators to Create a Better Future for the Continent
The NELGA Eastern Africa Node, in collaboration with African Land Policy Centre, GIZ and EALAN Secretariat, organized a series of workshops to popularize the Guidelines for Development of Curricula on Land Governance in Africa. The workshops were held between 22nd – 27th of March 2023 in Kampala, Kigali, and Dar es Salaam. The workshops attracted representatives of University Management, University Accreditation Boards, Professional bodies and academic units in universities offering land governance programs in the three countries. A total of 55 participants attended the three workshops.
The workshops involved the presentation of the guidelines developed by the African Land Policy Centre for implementation by universities in Africa. The Guidelines were presented at the workshops by the Coordinator of the NELGA Eastern Africa Node on behalf of the African Land Policy Centre. Engaging discussion ensued, touching on content, relevance and adoption of the guidelines in developing curricula on land governance-related programs. Participants in the three sessions acknowledged that the workshops on Guidelines were timely as most universities were either on the verge of reviewing or developing their curricula. Key comments on the content pointed to the need to further de-colonize the curricula, tailor the curricula to land governance theories suiting the African context, re-imagining housing, rethink the status of women’s land rights, particularly in the context of Eastern Africa region and use the Guidelines to develop benchmark standards for land governance academic programs in Africa.
With regard to mainstreaming the Guidelines in existing or new degree programs in land governance, participants proposed the use of different modes, including informing the curricula through developing standalone subjects, electives, seminars or topics; incorporating the themes in Universities research agenda, and reconsidering the mode of delivery of the curricula that will not overwhelm the learners.