President Yoweri Museveni has awarded the Commission of Inquiry into land matters another six months to enable it complete its scope of investigations. The extension comes after the initial 6 months period the President had given the team expired on November 9.
The seven person Commission, led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire was appointed by President Museveni in December 2016 to interrogate the irregularities that have resulted into the rampant land conflicts across Uganda.
In its terms of reference, the Commission of inquiry was mandated to inquire into the effectiveness of land laws, processes of land; acquisition, administration, management and registration in Uganda.
“Yes, we received the instrument a couple of days ago,” confirmed Justice Catherine Bamugemereire in a statement released on Friday.
“It is a welcome development because it is an endorsement of the work of the Commission by the appointing authority.”
According to the Amendment of Legal Notice No. 2 of 2017 dated November 5, President Museveni wrote: “…this Notice shall be deemed to have come into force on the 10th day of November 2017…The Commission shall execute its mandate under this Notice, within six months from the date of publication of this Notice”.
“The Commission shall submit a final Report of its findings and recommendations to the President within six months from the date of publication of the Notice,” the President adds.
The Commission has held numerous public hearings since May 9 interfacing with complainants, land experts, Ministers, cultural leaders, heads of government agencies, businessmen and those accused of land fraud.
Several of the complaints lodged to the Commission cited government officials that have either used their offices to unlawfully grab people’s land or those that use their power to influence decisions.
The other dominant issues that arose during the hearings include encroachment on gazetted land (wetlands, forests, swamps), vast unregistered land, double titling, land evictions and ineffective systems within the Lands offices from the Central government to the district level.
In it’s course, the Commission has ordered for some temporary measures to be undertaken in individual cases to resolve disputes but also some witnesses have been apprehended for failure of cooperating.
Hearings have been conducted at the Commission’s Kampala headquarters but the investigators have also conducted field visits in Wakiso, Nakaseke, Luwero, Mukono, Jinja, Hoima, Mubende, Masaka, Gulu and Mbarara among others.