Leaders during the training
Leaders and land actors in West Nile have appealed to Government through the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development (MoLHUD) and Local governments to allocate resources to lower area land committees to enable them execute their duties and mandates as per the Land Act and National Land Policy 2013.
During a recent meeting in Nebbi Town on Area Land Committees (ALCs) attended by representatives of District Land Boards of Zombo and Arua districts, local leaders and other land actors expressed concern that the Central Government has not been supportive to the lower land structures.
They said activities of the Area Land Committees aren’t financed and this has led to the high Incidences of land conflicts, fraud and poor land service delivery in the region.
The leaders of the ALCs from Logiri and Warr sub counties reported that say they’re not aware of the land fees that their local Government set on land transactions, how to transfer land titles and opening up boundaries before land titling.
They said this is due to limited knowledge arising from lack of induction and limited financing.
“For us, we didn’t know anything about the charges on the land inspection during the registration of land for acquiring certificates of land ownership but now we are aware of it and we are going to effectively collect it,” Charles Nen Oyikuru, ALC Chairperson Warr Sub-county in Zombo District, said.
The ALCs made the remarks in Nebbi town during an induction training on Land governance, Management and Administration for the ALC members of Warr and Logiri sub-counties in Zombo and Arua Districts in West Nile Region.
The training was organized by Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) Uganda chapter in partnership with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and district local governments of Nebbi and Zombo.
With the increasing foreign and domestic investments in agriculture and other sectors, there have been cases of land grabbing in many farming communities, where powerful entities acquire land from vulnerable communities without proper compensation or consent.
This phenomenon has triggered tensions and conflicts in the farming communities, displacement and livelihood loss, reduced agricultural productivity, and limited investment and development. Coupled with the above, there has been the absence of clear and comprehensive land laws, as well as inconsistent enforcement of existing legislation as this creates legal loopholes that exacerbate land conflicts and hinder their resolution.
Many small-scale farmers and other landowners are not aware of the different processes of handling land matters and registration of land.
This gap can be filled by the Area Land Committees (ALCs).
“As farming Organization, we believe in Equity; Government should ensure that Local Communities are empowered with all the information relating to Land governance and Management and this will curtail Land Conflicts related issues that are becoming rampant in the country,” said Ronald Bagaga, the head of Research and Policy at ESAFF Uganda.
Denis Obbo, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Spokesperson, said it’s not their mandate to finance the ALCs because that responsibility is delegated to the Ministry of Local Governments.
