Buganda leaders in secret meet over Land Bill



Ruling party legislators who hail from Buganda sub-region secretly met the Vice President last week for discussions that sought to harmonise Mengo’s position with that of the government on the Land Bill 2007, a head of a scheduled meeting with President Museveni.



Prof. Gilbert Bukenya reportedly invited legislators on Wednesday to his office in Kampala for crunch discussions, a source said, that also aimed at generating a unified position of the Buganda caucus to the government’s proposed changes to the Land Bill.



According to the source that preferred anonymity, the MPs agreed to a proposal that what is left of Buganda’s 9000 square miles be included in the Bill, under the customary land tenure system.



“We shall demand from the President that Buganda’s 9000 sq miles be included under land the customary tenure system so that it is not given away by the district land boards,” said the source, adding, “We want a separate provision where all former public land be included under customary land.”



Among its new amendments, the government is pushing the proposal that the district land board should not allocate land which is owned under customary tenure and where the districts land boards allocates this land, the transaction shall be rendered void.



The government had earlier empowered the state to regulate customary land, a position that was rejected by Acholi, Lango, Teso, Karamoja and Busoga sub-regions, arguing that the government was hiding behind the law to help intruders grab their ancestral land.



Currently, the 9000sq miles do not fall under any of the four land tenure systems although the government said most of it has since been parcelled out by leases and free hold interests and that whatever is left is now vested in district land boards.



The MPs also agreed to ask Mr Museveni to institute an independent commission of inquiry into reports that senior officials in his administration were occupying part of Buganda’s much cherished land.

The legislators also rejected a proposal in the Bill to allow the minister determine annual ground rent in case district land boards fail to do so within the stipulated six months period.



“The district land boards were frustrated and that is why they failed to deliver but we believe they can perform their duties once facilitated,” said an MP who preferred anonymity. The source said two ministers; Ms Ruth Nankabirwa (state for Defence) and Ms Janat Mukwaya, (Gender) openly opposed the proposals to have the Lands Minister determine ground rent.



Both MPs and the ministers argued that the Land’s minister should not come in directly, but as a last resort when the land boards have totally failed. Prof. Bukenya reportedly told the MPs that President Museveni would soon meet the Kabaka not saying when.



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