Minister Nabakooba Calls Ugandans in Diaspora to Invest in Land Development at Home

The Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development, Hon Judith Nabaakoba has called on all Ugandans living in Diaspora to invest in Land and Urban development in Uganda.
Nabaakoba revealed this while in Canada on NRM symposium where top  government officials had gone to interface with Ugandans leaving in Diaspora.
"My Ministry is responsible for putting in 
place policies, laws and regulations to ensure sustainable land management, planned urban and rural development and decent housing for all," says Nabaakoba.

The Minister said that Uganda has one of the most diverse land management systems in the world adding that In Uganda, we make it possible for you to own land in many different ways.

Nabaakoba further revealed that as an investor wishing to undertake a project in Uganda, you can utilize any of the following land ownership systems.

Land tenure refers to the bundle of rights and responsibilities under which land is. held, used, transferred, and succeeded.

Customary tenure is the most common tenure system in Uganda whereby access to land is “governed by the customs, rules, and regulations of the community.

"My Ministry has made a lot of progress in ensuring that customary land owners get titles to their land as well," says Nabaakoba.

Minister further said that Freehold land tenure system and Mailo system is where the ownership of land is freely with no time limit.  
"Under this tenure, ownership is indefinite with no restrictions on use," Nabaakoba adds.

The Minister further explained to Ugandans in Diaspora that the difference with Mailo land tenure is that it is found in the central that is why, details of proprietor are well described like proprietor's name, Father, Clan among others while Leasehold tenure is contracted out by owners or holders. Holders can be customary, public land, Mailo or freehold. 
"Foreigners may obtain contracts for leases of land of up to 99 years with the opportunity for renewal," says Nabaakoba.
The Minister further revealed that she is aware that a number of Ugandans living abroad and other investors as well have been getting challenges regarding securing genuine land.

And that Some of the challenges include; 

Red Tape” and issues of lack of National IDs & TINs which are required to transact on land in Uganda, 
Fraud and forgeries / Falsification of documents, 
Misinformation and misrepresentation by unlicensed brokers.
Unfavorable and unofficial land fees.
Inadequate channels to access reliable land information etc.

Minister Nabakooba however said that In order to address some of these challenges and more, we have instituted a number of avenues which  include.
Establishing a diaspora desk in the Ministry that is solely responsible for supporting those out of the country, 
Digitizing the entire land transaction by putting the entire process online. (I will talk more about this)
Establishing a Toll-Free line for any queries. 0800100004.

More about the public portal

The purpose of the Public Portal is to provide citizens with instant search results for land titles and the subsequent transactions. 

The Portal provides instant results on the status of land transactions and verification of land details  upon payment of a search fee of UGX 10,000 per search. This is about 3.59 Canadian dollars 

Minister Nabakooba said that Citizens in the country and those in the diaspora can access this Public Portal through the link provided:  https://www.ugnlis.mlhud.go.ug

Through this portal, all users can access information on the following items:

Information on available land transactions at the Ministry Zonal Offices.
Locations of the Ministry Zonal Offices.
Links to websites to download relevant forms
Description of the NLIS
And more.
This portal is helping us limit face to face interactions, ironing out middle men who have been responsible for increasing cases of fraud and corruption.

About The Real Estate Sector in Uganda. 

The Minister said that Because of the opportunities available in the land sector, the real estate industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors contributing 7.5 % to the National GDP and a key growth driver of the Ugandan economy. 
Nabakooba said this sector has significant linkages with several other productive sectors of the economy.
Real Estate business has been growing at a fast rate although the demand for decent housing has remained higher than supply. This is why I encourage all of you to come into our beautiful country and invest in housing.

The current policy framework for the Real Estate Sector is the National Housing Policy (2016). 

The policy provides a framework where the government enables and collaborates with housing developers to increase on housing supply. 
Minister Nabakooba however decried of Some of the Challenges faced by the Sector including
Inadequate legal, regulatory and institutional framework for development and management of real estate properties, 
Lack of or inadequate structural plans to guide real estate development, 
Inadequate capacity and knowledge of real estate by professionals and local authorities, 
Inadequate capacity among real estate developers to plan, develop and manage the Estates, 
Limited housing development finance available for real estate development, 
High costs of providing infrastructure and utilities such as roads, water and sanitation, electricity, drainage, etc. in the estates among others.

Minister Nabakooba appealed with Ugandans leaving in Diaspora and  encouraged them to  come and find out more about how you can invest in our beautiful country. 

"Together with my team at the Ministry, we are available to give you any support you many need," says Nabaakoba.