Minister Nabakooba decries forgery of land documents

MUKONO - Lands minister Judith Nabakooba has decried forgery of land documents across the country.

This was during the opening of a two-day National Land Policy consultative meeting for Buganda sub-region that was held at Ridar Hotel in Mukono district on November 11, 2024.

“I have been told six out of eight letters of administration presented seeking permission to conduct boundary opening are fake. If they continue to do so, apprehend them and take them to court over forgery,” she said.

This is according to a statement released by the lands ministry.

Nabakooba heard during the meeting that most forgery cases are on the letters of administration, which is a legal document issued by the court allowing the administrator(s) to manage the estate of the deceased.

She noted that if such cases are not handled with care, they would cause a lot of problems in the land sector, stressing the potential to fuel land conflicts.

“Similar issues have been arising in different parts of the country, with more than one person seeking boundary opening on the same land,” she said.

In Wakiso district’s Bussi Island on Lake Victoria, for example, locals were up in arms over different landlords coming up for the same exercise, according to the minister.

“Do not sugarcoat such cases because they are very serious. Forgery is a criminal case chargeable in courts of law,” she stated.

The minister noted that the revised National Land Policy will address pressing land issues to ensure they are resolved.

She said the issues are multiple overlapping conflicting interests on the same piece of land, and absentee landlords who claim ownership based on outdated succession registers.

Others are climate challenges and continuous illegal land evictions causing tenure insecurity in the region.

Nabakooba asked the pioneers of the National Land Policy 2013 review led by Naomi Kabanda, the acting Commissioner of Land Administration, to ensure that the policy serves people’s best interests, fosters economic growth, and protects our natural resources.

The Ministry of Lands is currently undertaking regional meetings to review the National Land Policy, which has been in existence since 2013.

Nabakooba said the review process is aimed at leveraging land as a major resource that can contribute to economic development.

She noted that the key element of the National Land Policy 2024 is tenure security and she wants the policy to address land rights for both tenants and landlords.

At the same meeting, the minister also cautioned district land boards against giving out government land, noting that it is likely to incur their losses.

“Government needs land but we realised most of the government land has been allocated by district land boards and once people get titles, they use it forever,” she said.
 
She also said they are running out of land and it will be very difficult for them to get it back.

“I have seen people who get freehold titles and they are now demanding compensation. You see the confusion that you are causing, where are we going to get that land?” she asked.

The revelation came after a land official from Mukono Ministry Zonal office (MZO) told Nabakooba that they have land located at Block 542 in Buikwe district where Uganda Land Commission owns the land with the title and the district local government has a lease of 99 years on the same land.

Nabakooba said the ministry has been issuing titles but the exercise was recently halted to critically resolve the matter.

The meeting also heard that the officials at MZO are worried that public outcry is going to be so much.

Representatives of the public in the meeting came from the districts of Mukono, Buvuma, Kayunga, Kampala, Wakiso, Luwero, Nakaseke, Buikwe and Nakasongola.

The second meeting will be held in Masaka City.