Evaluating the impact of the national land policy in addressing tenure insecurity in Mailo land tenure system

Abstract

The Mailo land tenure system in Uganda is a complex tenure system in which land can be occupied by people who do not have legal ownership titles for the land and legally owned by people who cannot occupy it. This is a core land problem affecting high-value land in the central region including land in Kampala, the national capital city. The land use impasse due to that situation has created the aspect of huge amounts of “dead capital” as land, a central aspect of all production sectors cannot be put to its maximum use. The national land policy framework was developed coherently with other macro policy instruments such as the national development plan (NDP) and the Uganda Vision 2040 to transform the country into a prosperous state within 30 years in which land was recognized by its centrality as a sector in the economy. It was part of its objectives to streamline the complex tenure regimes in Uganda for equitable access to land and security of tenure. In line with Mailo land, Government would resolve and disentangle the multiple, overlapping, and conflicting interests and rights on Mailo tenure and “native” freehold tenure through various administrative and legislative measures and strategies. This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the policy strategies in line with solving the Mailo land issue. This was done using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study findings indicated that considerable efforts have been made in awareness creation but more needs to be done to create structures and mechanisms that would guide and facilitate successful implementation of the various strategies and so, the policies are effective in disentangling the land interests and more positive results will be realized if barriers such as funding gaps and inadequate legislation are addressed