Assessing the effect of CCOs issuance on tenure security in rural areas : a case study of Bukonjo county in Kasese District

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of issuance and use of certificates of customary ownership in securing land tenure in Rukoki subcounty, Kasese District. The CCO is intended to formalize customary land tenure through documentation, and its issuance and regulation is mandated to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD). The issuance of CCO, which started after the enactment of the National Land Policy in 2013, has been supported through pilot projects undertaken mainly by the Civil Society Organisations working in collaboration with local governments and the MLHUD. The report provides an analysis of the procedures and capacities of institutions issuing Certificate of Customary Ownership of land, how CCO has impacted security of land tenure in relation to the bundles of land rights, including rights of use, access, ownership, sale, decision making on the land and rights of transferring and inheriting land. The objectives of the study were; to examine the patterns of CCOs registration & issuance and to investigate the indicators of tenure security using the patterns of CCOs issuance. A cross-sectional design was used. A cross-sectional survey which was useful in obtaining quantitative information and the method was suitable for descriptive study as well as for determining relationships between and among variables. An accessible population of 100 participants was identified from which a sample of 60 participants was selected and used. A response rate of 80% was obtained from which the key finding was a positive significance of people who knew about the certificates of customary ownership and those that had applied for them. On assessing the indicators of tenure security, it was found that generally CCOs have increased tenure security.