Land Registration Commissioner Orders NSSF Lubowa Land Title Cancelled

Baker Mugaino, the Acting Commissioner of Land Registration in the Ministry of Lands, has ordered the cancellation of a land title issued to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for the Lubowa land in Wakiso district.

This is contained in a Lubowa Land Registry Report signed by Mugaino on April 22, 2024.

The order hinges on a recent ruling by Makindye Chief Magistrates Court which acquitted the five persons who were accused of fraudulently acquiring the title of land comprised in FRV WAK 6104 Folio 24 Block 269 Plots 323-3240 on which the fund’s Lubowa estate sits.

The five persons include Muhammad Lubowa, Moses Bogere, Betty Namanya, Nakanywagi Daphne, and Patrick Oyango.

In his report, Mugaino said that NSSF bought land comprised of FRV 402 Foli 13 Block 269 plots 274, 323, and 1322 from Uganda Company Holdings Ltd in 2003 where all shareholders of this company could not hold a valid title in freehold tenure to pass onto NSSF since the 1995 constitution of the Republic of Uganda and sections 40(4)(5)(6)(7) of the land Act forbids foreigners from holding Freehold or Mailo proprietary interest in land.

Secondly, the certificate of titles comprised in FRV 402 Folio 13 Block 269 plots 274 and 1322 measuring 285.07 Acres registered in the name of NSSF appear on the same certificate of title without following the laid down procedure on amalgamation of titles which explains its overshot on the cad-astral and Kalamazoo.

More so, NSSF did not explain how plot 50 of only 0.797 acres came to create plot 1322 of 186.6 acres which is not practically possible.

According to the report, the certificate of title has three deed prints for the respective plots with mailo instructions to survey plot 1322-MA/Z/2/0253, plots 274 and 323 have no instructions to survey and this explains why they were not digitized and vectorized in the current land management system due to the irregularities sighted above.

The claim by the estate of the late Yusufu Suuna Kiwanuka could not be established in the records at the registry kept by the Commissioner Land Registration as FC and PC are closed under S 32 of the RTA limited by the limitation Act Because they are Civil in nature and above all they have been rejected by the court.

Mugaino advised NSSF to explore an amicable settlement with the complainant to acquire the extra land lawfully from the owners.

He ordered the Commissioner of Surveys and Mapping to increase the surveillance, oversight and supervision of the survey register to ensure compliance with standards that will help avoid overlaying of surveys to create double titling.