Lands Ministry, PELUM, ESAFF & NUDIPU Organize Land Awareness Week in Lango Sub Region.

The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD) in partnership with  Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda, ESAFF Uganda, National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), Caritas, ACSA  and other Non-State Actors have organized  the seventh (7th) Land Awareness Week-(LAW) 2023 to be held in Lango Sub Region. The Land Awareness week is under the theme “Promoting Land Rights and Inclusion for Enhanced Production and Sustainable Development”. 
The awareness weeks will be held in the Districts of  Lira, Apac, Dokolo, Amolatar, Kwania, Kole and Alebtong.

Addressing the journalists at the Uganda Media center, Minister Nabakooba said that a similar event shall be held in Busia district focusing on issues of extractives/mining and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD). 

Nabaakoba said that this land awareness week (LAW 2023), like the previous ones will further engage critical Government institutions that include among others the National Forestry Authority (NFA), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), Ministry of Agriculture (MAAIF) and Ministry of Water and Environment and other  Selected Private Sector players/companies/businesses on a number of land sector related issues.

"This land awareness week (LAW 2023) is aimed at strengthening the capacity of farming communities, land owners and users including women, youth, Persons with Disabilities-PWDs, and other vulnerable groups on their land rights and obligations for effective engagement in Land Governance and environmental conservation at local and national levels,"says Minister Nabakooba.

She adds that this is achieved through information dissemination of the policy and regulatory frameworks on land and environment, consciousness building and dialogues on the regional specific issues impacting on land rights and sustainable environmental management issues.

Minister Nabakooba further said that this awareness week shall provide strategic platform for documentation of emerging issues to inform reviews of policy and legal frameworks specifically the National Land Policy, 2013, the Land Act CAP. 227, the Land Acquisition Act-1965 and the Physical Planning Act-2010, the Registration of titles Act and all the Presidential Directives on Land and land Grabbing issued by H.E the President.

Nabakooba added that the land awareness week was first implemented nationally by the Ministry and Partners in 2017 in Acholi region and  followed by  Teso region in 2018, Karamoja region in 2019, West Nile region in 2020, Central region in 2021, Kigezi region in 2022, and the current one to be held in the Lango region 2023.

The land awareness week held  in Amuru district in 2017 established Apaa land conflict, inadequate and unfair Compensation in the Amuru Sugar Project, threats of massive land evictions, and issue of low capacity of land management institutions to ably administer land. 
"Subsequently, Apaa land issue was fast tracked by both Government and CSOs, leading to establishment of the just commissioned Land Inquiry headed by former Chief Justice Bart Katureebe,"says Nabaakoba.

Nabaakoba added that the land awareness week which was held in Soroti in 2018 established demand for customary land registration using CCOs by the customary land owners and Soroti University land conflict among others and  Guidance was provided,  compensation was followed by Sub County where over 20 households received their compensation. 

While the one which was held in Karamoja established Specific issues raised on exploration and mining licenses which were being used to evict customary land owners, inter district boundary disputes between Napak, Abim, Kaabong, Kotido and Moroto and the need to register communal lands of the clans and sub clans. 
"In this a team of Surveyors from the MLHUD was dispatched on instructions of the Ministry’s Political leadership to resolve the boundary issues the registration of clans into legal entities was achieved and clans are now land owners managing their communal lands,"says Minister Nabakooba.

While in  West Nile the major issue escalated was on alleged witchcraft where many women, mostly widows were being dispossessed of their deceased spouses land on allegations of witchcraft, as a ploy to take their land.
"To date, we have received feedback of reduced reported incidences of such cases especially in many sub countries and  Customary land registration is ongoing and many women have benefitted from the intervention to become registered customary land owners,"says Nabakooba.

Minister Nabakooba said that in Central region in the districts of districts of Mityana, Mubende, Kassanda, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi the major issue escalated was on Unlawful Land evictions, forced Land transactions and eviction threats, Massive destruction of property and economic livelihoods,  Illegal land transactions by LC1 leaders,  Busuulu affecting the landlord/tenant relationship, the threat of investors who are searching for underground minerals and disrupting the peaceful settlement of tenants among others. 
Minister said that In a bid to address these, the Courts have adopted a new legal precedence on the need to carry out due diligence even on the ground before buying land or effecting any land transaction.

The ministry is still following up the issues raised by Rukiga region which takes Kabale, Rukiga, Rubanda and Kisoro adding that  in some cases , the ministry has already secured resources to survey and process customary titles for the indigenous communities, the Batwa. 
The Minister however stressed that one of the cross cutting issues that has kept coming is the issue of illegal land evictions. 
"These have been rampant and have affected the entire country regardless of the tenure systems. It has left many citizens landless and with no hope of regaining their livelihoods,"says Nabaakoba.

Minister Nabakooba said that the objectives of Land awareness week (LAW) is to  provide platform for strengthening of the capacity of farming communities and their organizations, local governments, formal and customary land management and land administration bodies, the civil society, state and non-state land actors for effective engagement in the governance of Lands, housing, urban development and environment for effectiveness and accountability in the delivery of services at local and national levels.
She says the awareness is to provide platform for dissemination of laws and policies on lands, housing, urban development, and environment, 
to provide platforms for farming communities and their organizations to dialogue with and hold accountable the local and national duty bearers on the delivery of lands, housing, urban development and environment services, to provide platform for farming communities to access legal advice, guidance and counseling on matters of lands, housing, urban development and environment through mobile legal aid clinics and to document with appropriate evidence rights issues relating to land, housing, urban development and environment to inform related policy reviews.