The Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development (MLHUD), Judith Nabakooba, has revealed that all of the Church of Uganda (COU) land across the country is set to be registered.
Nabakooba made the remarks while meeting a team from the Lands Ministry and Anglican Church leaders at the Namirembe Provincial Secretariat on June 21, 2024, to lay out strategies for land registration.
With the attendance of leaders from all 39 dioceses of the Church of Uganda, Nabakooba asked the church leaders to identify all the land across the country that belongs to the Church.
“This will help our team identify land with legal documents and process documents to title unregistered land,” Nabakooba said.
Minister Nabakooba also asked the church leaders to get all registered trustees on the land and update the files and records of all consent forms.
She further called on the leaders to make sure that even the small pieces are not left out.
“Keep a keen eye on the small pieces of land in communities that belong to the Church of Uganda. There is even land that was abandoned by the church a long time ago, and it has been encroached upon,” she noted.
The minister, however, stated that no occupants would be chased from the land but would instead be registered and given certificates of occupancy to allow them to pay nominal ground rent (Busuulu).
She noted that most of the church-donated land has been taken over by relatives of the owners of estates because they do not want to adhere to the commitments made by their great-grandparents.
She asked that such land cases would be taken to the courts of law to be resolved once and for all.
“You must ensure that the church does not lose any piece of land during the boundary opening,” Nabakooba advised.
Nabakooba also cautioned church leaders against corruption and asked them to report any evil deeds to her office or the permanent secretary in case they prevailed.
The acting Provincial Secretary of the Church of Uganda, Balaam Muheebwa, pledged on behalf of the church to provide all the necessary support for the registration of church land.
“The church land registration will minimise conflicts between the church and the communities. The church still has land that is not surveyed and titled. We therefore appeal to the government for help,” Muheebwa stated.
On March 5, 2024, Minister Nabakooba met the House of Bishops at a retreat conference at the Lweza Training and Conference Centre in Wakiso District and asked them to create within themselves a team that will work with the ministry throughout this exercise.
