PM Nabbanja : Government, CSOs To Strengthen Ties In Land Matters

 The Government of Uganda in partnership with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have vowed to strengthen ties to resolve land matters and restore sanity in conflict-confined communities.

 While closing the five-day Land Learning week at Speke Resort, Munyonyo in Kampala on June 13, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, said for long, multi-stakeholder partnerships have played a vital role in enhancing sustainable land tenure security.

 “They support governments through shared responsibilities to achieve the political pledges made on land governance,” Ms Nabbanja said.

 The Land Learning Week conference was organised under the theme: “Governments and Civil Society Organizations Partnerships in Land Governance, Global Learning 2024.

” Much as Uganda may have a less resource envelope to ensure land governance, Ms Nabbanja said through partnerships, they can pool resources and expertise of different stakeholders.

“Uganda's government pledges to its people; for example, it has issued legal documents to customary owners to guarantee their tenure security. With our small resource envelope, we may fail to put adequate resources, so you as government partners work together to achieve this,” the prime minister said.

She reported that previous partnerships have yielded fruitful results and currently, at least 82,000 legal documents have been issued to customary landowners.

 “I receive reports daily relating to forced evictions, land conflicts, and administrative boundary disputes. These reports require responses which may sometimes call for the involvement of multi-stakeholder interventions,” Nabbanja said.

 Apart from implementing the National Land Policy, the premier pledged on behalf of the government to continue providing an enabling environment for land governance through global, regional, and international frameworks.

 These are; the Global Land Agenda and the AU Land Governance Strategy 2023-2032, and she asked stakeholders to link them to in-country experiences, and identify champions/ambassadors of government –Civil Society Originations partnerships and people-centered land governance.

Lands minister, Hon Judith Nabakooba pledged on behalf of her ministry to implement all the recommendations from the conference.

 She applauded the partners for their rich ideas that will transform the land sector. “As a country, we have been privileged to host this conference that has showcased several innovative approaches that will strengthen our land sector,” Ms Nabakooba said.

Some of the key partners in this learning conference were the International Land Coalition (ILC), the National Land Coalition, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and CSCOs.

Dr. Mike Taylor, the Executive Director of International Land Coalition, Secretariat, said his organisation has been supporting over 200 CSOs aiming at fostering land rights for vulnerable groups across the globe, with Uganda inclusive and pledged to continue with the same spirit.

  Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) executive director Dr Theresa Auma thanked the Ugandan Government for providing an enabling environment to share ideas in the land sector.