Some of the stakeholders in Acholi during the a one day consultative and mobilization meeting organized by ministry on Certificate of Customary Ownership. Photos by Walter Okot.
By Brian Komakech & Walter Okot
Gulu: The government through the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development has called on land owners in the Acholi Sub-region to embrace the Certificate of Customary Ownership (CCO) on lands under customary land tenure.
The Lands Ministry commenced the implementation of the registration of customary land and issuance of land documentation to customary land owners across the country in 2015.
According to Section 4 (1), Cap. 227 of the 1998 Land Act, an individual, a family, a community, or a traditional institution owns forever and uses, occupies, or deals in land under the customary rules of land ownership.
Dorcas Okalany, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Lands said on Monday that the acquisition of CCO will greatly help in reducing the growing cases of land conflicts the sub-region is plagued with.
Okalany was speaking to stakeholders from the Acholi Sub-region during a consultative and mobilization meeting held at Gulu District Council Hall.
She noted that ever since the issuance of CCO commenced in the region, landowners are no longer living under uncertainty of threats of eviction and violence that come with non-registration of customary land. According to her, the biggest beneficiaries are women, minors, and vulnerable persons with land interests.
“For those who have received CCO, conflicts, and living under threats of eviction have ended. Their productivity has also increased over ten times. People who have CCO have put themselves for production and are producing and people in Kampala are enjoying their products,” said Okalany.
Okalany noted that the implementation of the issuance of CCO has also resulted in the incorporation of clans and communities into legal entities of communal land associations. According to her, over 600 clans and communities across the country have already been incorporated and issued 78,156 certificates as evidence of ownership.
She noted that the government through the initiative will liaise with the local traditional leaders and Local courts to mediate in emerging land conflicts in the respective areas where CCO is being implemented.
Prof. Jack Nyeko Pen-Mogi, the Acting Lands Commission Chairperson said there is a need by the community of Acholi sub-region to acquire CCO to enable them to secure loans from commercial banks for developing their land.
According to Pen-Mogi, the rampant sale of land cheaply in the region is due to the inability of landowners to utilize their untitled lands by getting money from banks or opening them to make them productive.
“If possible, let every piece of land in Acholi get Customary Certificate Ownership, you don’t carry land to the bank, those who have the certificate carry the certificate to the bank and get money,” said Prof. Pen-Mogi.
Under section 9 of the 1998 Land Act, once an individual secures a certificate of customary ownership, it becomes full evidence of customary rights in the land and gives the holder rights to lease, sell, and borrow money using it. It shall also be recognized by financial institutions like Banks as certificates of evidence of title.
Prof Pen-Mogi also decried the limited details about government lands in Acholi and asked leaders from the Acholi Sub-region to willingly provide the lists of government land to the Uganda Lands Commission to ease the allocation of investors.
“This is how we lose out if you don’t declare government land because the government is not prepared to buy land for industries. It would be easier for the government to bring industries to approved government land so that the work starts right away,” he said.
In the Acholi Sub-region, known government lands include the Aswa Ranch covering the districts of Pader, and parts of Lamwo that have been under contention as leaders claim part of the ranch was fraudulently extended from 68,000 hectares to 105,400. The Aswa Ranch is currently under the management of the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank [NAGRC&DB].
Other lands include the Madhvani Sugar land in Lakang Sub-county in Amuru District, and Got Apwoyo Ranch in Nwoya District among others.
Agago reaping from CCO
Leonard Ojok, the Agago District Chairperson told stakeholders on Monday that while cases of land conflicts in the sub-counties of Wol and Paimol had been high, the rate has fallen significantly after the introduction of Certificates of customary ownership.
At least 1,017 certificates of customary land ownership have been issued to families, clans, and households in the two sub-counties.
“This certificate will stop numerous land conflicts and will be the legal certificate of our land if we embrace it,” Said Ojok.
Restrict sale of titled customary land
While leaders in the Acholi have welcomed the initiative to have all customary lands titled, they have raised an appeal to the Lands Ministry to restrict sale of land with Certificate of Customary Land Ownership by individuals, families, clans, and communities.
According to Ojok, the Land Ministry should make an addendum on the current customary land certificates which bans its sale once acquired. He reasoned that restricting the sales of the customary land would help to save the land for future generations.
“The only thing that I support 100 percent, is that there be an addendum somewhere in the certificate that this land is not for sale,” he said.
Kitgum District Senior Lands Officer Mathew Otto shares the same opinion arguing that having the phrase, “Not for sale” on the certificate will save land in the sub-region for posterity.
Leaders skeptical about CCO
Some political and traditional leaders from the sub-region have however expressed skepticism over the CCO describing it as a ploy to sabotage the current traditional land ownership management
Rwot Collins Atiku Mutu, the Patiko Clan Chief alleged that CCO is being intentionally designed by the government to make the Acholi people lose out on their land. Rwot Atiku also noted that unlike other forms of land ownership in the country, certificates of customary land ownership have no registry.
“These are the things that are designed to rob the Acholi of their land because customary land that is complicated is mostly in Acholi,” Rwot Atiku said.
But The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Lands, Dorcas Okalany, refuted the claims, arguing that the procedures of acquiring a certificate of customary ownership are legally enshrined under the 1998 Land Act Section 5-8. Under sections 5-8 of the Land Act.
Since 2015, the Lands Ministry has so far issued a Certificate of Customary Ownership (CCO) in 16 districts across the country.
They include Kasese, Nwoya, Agago, Mbale, Pader, Adjumani, Katakwi, Soroti, Butaleja, Kabale, Kisoro, and the Karamoja districts of Moroto, Nabilatuk, Nakapiripirit, Amudat and Kabong where about 90 percent land owners have secured CCO.
The government has now rolled out the implementation of the initiative in Gulu and Agago districts where it will also be holding consultations with locals for the next two weeks.
