Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has issued a strong warning to government officials against illegally allocating, selling or misusing public land, saying the government must urgently protect its land from grabbing and irregular transactions.
Nabakooba said government land remains at risk because of poor supervision, incomplete records and failure by some officials to properly safeguard public property. She said the government is now working on a comprehensive inventory to identify and document all its land holdings across the country.
Speaking at a regional stakeholders’ workshop in Mukono on the development of the government land inventory, Nabakooba directed district leaders, lands officers and other custodians of public land to identify government properties in their areas and ensure that they are properly documented and protected.
She stressed that the absence of a land title should not be used as an excuse to ignore government property, particularly land occupied by schools, hospitals and other public institutions.
“Even if a school or a hospital has no title, it’s your duty as a key stakeholder to first protect that property on that land before you parcel the land. Even if you think it’s dormant land, let’s first secure it,” she said.
The minister also warned lands officers against issuing freehold titles to private individuals on government land, saying such actions can create serious legal and financial challenges for the State.
“Once you give out a freehold title, it becomes difficult to reverse because it may require us to go to courts of law to cancel such titles,” she said.
Nabakooba explained that the planned inventory will give government a clear picture of where its land is located, its legal and physical status, how it is being used and the threats facing it.
“We believe that the inventory will help us establish where government land is located, its legal and physical status, its present use and any threats that require intervention from authorities,” she said.
She urged officials to act quickly, especially in areas experiencing rapid population growth and development, where increasing demand for land is putting government property under greater pressure.
“We need to move very fast and protect the land we have for the future of our country,” Nabakooba said.
The minister further called for increased public awareness about government land, saying such property belongs to the public and should not be viewed as an opportunity for personal enrichment.
She said unlawful occupants should be dealt with according to the law, while people with genuine claims should be treated fairly and land disputes handled through lawful, transparent and peaceful processes.
Uganda Land Commission Chairperson Prof Pen-Mogi Nyeko also urged local authorities to protect government land, saying the State needs sufficient land for infrastructure, industrialisation and other development programmes.
Nyeko cautioned District Land Boards and local authorities against allocating public land to individuals, saying such land should instead be preserved for strategic government projects that can create jobs and support economic development.
“Protect government land in your area for major government development,” he said.
He added that district leaders, Resident District Commissioners, District Land Board members and other local stakeholders have important knowledge about land in their respective areas and should help government identify public property.
Nyeko particularly called for the protection of land occupied by schools and other public institutions, noting that some of these properties do not have titles and are therefore vulnerable to encroachment and land grabbing.
According to him, the government land inventory will also help identify land that can be reserved for future industrialisation, infrastructure and other major investments.
Emmanuel Kaganzi, who represented the Permanent Secretary at the workshop, said accurate information about government land is essential because it can help authorities address land problems before they affect government projects.
“Information must reach government before the problem does,” he said.
Kaganzi explained that some government projects can reach advanced stages, with funding already secured and technical designs completed, only for officials to discover encroachment, boundary disputes, competing claims or missing land records.
He said the inventory should establish whether government land has been surveyed, titled and properly demarcated, while also identifying cases of encroachment and other risks.
He cautioned that the inventory must be regularly updated to remain useful, calling for close cooperation between the Uganda Land Commission, Ministry of Lands, local governments and government agencies occupying public land.
The regional workshop brought together leaders and technical officers from Kayunga, Buikwe, Wakiso, Nakaseke, Luweero and Nakasongola districts as government moves to strengthen the protection and management of public land across the country.
