Gov't to consult the public on Amendment of the Land Act

The director for lands management at the ministry of lands, Naomi Kabanda has noted that the government has no intentions of amending the Land Act without consulting stakeholders and the public.

Naomi who was speaking at the official launch of the Land Awareness Week at Mityana district headquarters, told residents in the area to stop accepting allegations from individuals who say that government is planning to amend land Act without public involvement.

Naomi also urged residents in the districts of Mityana, Kasanda , Mubende, Kyankwanzi where the land awareness week is being held to use this opportunity to check and search the status of their land titles at their respective district land offices to assess safety of their land.

At the same event, Buganda land board criticized structural failures in Central government land offices as the primary causes of land wrangles and land evictions in the country.

Namaganda Olivia who represented the Buganda Land board noted that introducing new land laws as many people proposing may not fully address land questions in the country.

She commended the organizers of the land awareness week for taking the event to districts of Mubende, Mityana, Kyankwanzi and Kasanda because these are the epicenter of land wrangles and land evictions.

The deputy RDC for Mityana district Abubaker Birungi  noted with concern that as leaders are fighting against the land grabbing, they should not look at tribes.

According to him, it is not only banyankole who are grabbing lands in the country, it's is a combination many people coming from different tributes.

His remarks came after, the Mayor for Mityana municipality, Mukambwe Faustin Lukonge, who represented the Mityana woman member of Parliament Joyce Bagala, noted that people who grab land are coming from western part of Uganda.

Mukambwe who spoke with a lot of anger also noted that the government should stay far away from amending the Land Act after all the Act was passed in 1998 by the same ruling government.

Land awareness week organized by Action Aid Uganda, Pelum Uganda and Land Net among other organisations that seek to enhance knowledge about land among residents in the host districts.Esther Kisembo, the Project cordinator at Action Aid noted that through this week, a team of lawyers has been put in place to assist the public to understand their land rights, how to acquire land, how to register for land titles and perhaps also to resolve some land disputes in these areas.