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Land Bill critics vow to sue govt
Y. Mugerwa & M. Nalugo
Kampala
Buganda Kingdom Information Minister Charles Peter Mayiga said the Bill if passed as recommended by the Parliamentary Physical Infrastructure and Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committees, will be resisted and also challenged in court. “We shall challenge any piece of legislation that doesn’t address our interests and that of the population,” Mr Mayiga said, adding that Buganda has not changed her position on the Bill.
Mr Mayiga said there were enough laws in place to address the rampant land evictions, which reason President Museveni advances in pushing for the Bill.
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative Executive Director Livingstone Ssewanyana said without a national land policy, the Bill would be resisted. “If Parliament clears the process before any sufficient consultations, the land problems will instead increase,” Mr Ssewanyana said.
The Acholi leadership in Parliament has also backed efforts to have a minority report on the matter, insisting that the committee should have halted passing the Land Bill until nationwide consultations were made. “The people, who are land owners have rejected it, so who else can clear this ridiculous Bill?” wondered Mr Livingstone Okello-Okello (UPC, Chwa) the Acholi Parliamentary Group Chairperson.
The Uganda Bankers ‘Association also opposed the Bill on grounds that it closes the market for mortgages and loans, from which banks depend for most of their business. Bankers say the Bill does not clarify whether the land owner should acquire consent from tenants by occupancy before taking a mortgage using the land title as security.
It also does not explain how the bank can recover its money on a piece of land with tenants, incase the land owner fails to meet the mortgage demands.
Why they are opposed:
* Buganda Kingdom: They say the Bill undermines the Kabaka, adding that the current land law has sufficiently addressed issues of land wrangles and evictions.
* West Nile elders: They say the Bill empowers the State to regulate their customary land yet they have traditional institutions in place that can arbitrate in case of any conflicts.
* Uganda Bankers Association:
Worried that the Bill would close the market for mortgage and loan services. They told the joint committee the Bill does not clarify whether the land owner should acquire consent from tenants by occupancy before taking a mortgage using the land title as security.
* Acholi MPs: They said the Bill is aimed at grabbing their communal land so that it is given away to the investors. They feel the current 1998 Land Act addresses the current problem of the evictions and that its provisions have not been fully enforced.
* The Uganda Land Alliance:
Says the government should make nationwide consultations on the Bill.
* The Human Rights Commission: It advised that the Bill should be withdrawn from Parliament pending further consultations and called for an independent commission to head the consultations.
Ekitibwa Kyabuganda
Uganda is for all Ugandans to enjoy.Let us kick the dictatorship out of Uganda.Buganda and Northern Uganda should be given their federo.
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