KAMPALA – Kyankwanzi District Woman MP Hon. Ann Maria Nankabirwa has raised concerns over the conversion of Kabaka’s land into freehold, warning that the process is frustrating leaseholders and complicating land transactions in areas where the Buganda Kingdom owns large portions of land.
Nankabirwa said some people who had held leases on Kabaka’s land for decades were facing difficulties renewing them after the land titles were converted into freehold, despite earlier assurances that existing leaseholders would be considered for renewal when their leases expired.
Speaking during a parliamentary debate on the committee report on land matters, Nankabirwa cited an experience involving Wamala Growers Cooperative Union, where she serves as chairperson.
She explained that the cooperative had been pursuing the renewal of a 49-year lease on land located in Mubende Municipality, but the process was complicated after some of the relevant land titles could not be traced.
According to Nankabirwa, the files had been affected by the conversion of the land into freehold, forcing the cooperative to undertake extensive efforts to locate the missing records.
She said the matter was eventually resolved through the intervention of the Buganda Land Board and the Ministry of Lands, which she commended for helping address the problem.
However, she questioned whether the committee’s findings, which included visits to Kyaggwe and Mukono, adequately addressed similar challenges in the greater Mubende region, particularly Mityana, where large portions of land are owned by the Kabaka.
Nankabirwa warned that converting such land into freehold without adequately addressing existing lease arrangements could leave many people struggling to secure renewals and protect their interests.
The legislator also raised concerns over what she described as a growing backlog problem affecting land titles, saying she had personally encountered difficulties while attempting to conduct a transaction involving her own property.
She said that despite having held her land title for some time and using it as security at a bank, she was informed that the title had a backlog when she attempted another transaction.
Nankabirwa questioned how land titles that had previously been processed without such complications could suddenly attract backlogs following their entry into the digital land management system.
She suggested that some of the problems could be linked to errors during the digitisation process, including possible cases of multiple titles being plotted or registered against the same piece of land.
She further questioned why landowners should be required to pay additional fees to resolve backlogs that were not caused by their own actions.
Despite the concerns, Nankabirwa acknowledged that the digitisation of land records had brought significant improvements in land administration, urging the responsible authorities to address the remaining challenges and strengthen the system.
