Land owners in Greater Kibaale District have been advised not to mortgage their land titles as collaterals to money lenders as this may leave them without any after failing to service the loans they will have acquired.
The advice was given by Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja, following the handing out of land titles to land owners in Kakumiro and Kagadi districts of Greater Kibaale district by Lands, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Ms Judith Nabakooba.
She said using land titles as security is dangerous since some of the bank loans acquired for certain intentions are always hard to service, this, failing to recover the titles.
“They will take your land. Let nobody play around with you. Keep your land titles safe. Having a land title in your hands is a big achievement. Don’t waste these titles. It is your road out of poverty. Don’t deposit your land titles in banks to be loaned. Consider your decisions carefully before taking them,” she said.
A total of 1,614 land titles were handed out to land owners of Kenga village in Kahunde parish, Kagadi sub-county in Kagadi district to help them develop their land productively for financial development, according to Ms Judith Nabakooba, the Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
“You are expected to use your land which is now free from disputes to undertake commercial agriculture that will help you to relatively jump out of poverty through increased productivity to realise a surplus for market,” she said.
“Time for worry and conflict is over. The issue of protecting land occupants is key for development and this helps to sort out land disputes arising out multiple interests on the same piece of land,” the minister continued.
The Kagadi district local government chairman, Mr Yosia Ndibwami, called upon the government through the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development to acquire land titles for the remaining people of Buyaga west constituency.
“There are some people there who have not yet acquired land ownership. I pray that this exercise keeps going on to ensure all land disputes are sorted once and for all,” he said.
Mr Barnabas Tinkasiimire, the Buyaga west Member of Parliament, told the minister that absentee landlords of mailo land are a great challenge in Kagadi.
He cited mailo land that formerly comprised Buyaga Block 65 Plot 8 Kagadi district measuring 1,791 acres an equivalent of 2sq miles.
The land in Buyaga originally belonged to the private estate of Lolenti Musoke before it changed to Joseph Kyambade – the administrator of the estate of the late Lolenti Musoke.
Government compensated Kyambade and transferred the title to Uganda Land Commission on September 4, 2004.
Through the Land Fund, the government has acquired a total of 250, 128.95 an equivalent of 238sq miles.
The number of beneficiaries comprising institutional land is 34 including schools, health centres, markets, parks, faith-based institutions, forests, wetlands and road reserves accounting for 2.1 per cent.
A total of 361 females have benefitted from the initiative accounting for 22.4 per cent of the total beneficiaries while males are 1,124 accounting for 69.9 per cent.
Joint male and female ownership of land is 95 accounting for 5.9 per cent of the beneficiaries.
The government has used the Land Fund to acquire 334,458 acres equivalent to 523sq miles of land across the country as part of its strategy to stop illegal land evictions.
