Changing Face Of Land Tenure In Uganda: Period Before 1900 To Date

Land is the ultimate resource, for without it life on earth cannot be sustained (UNECE, 1996) . It is a basic element to every country since all activities of man takes place on it. Land tenure and property rights exist concurrently. Well defined property rights and institutions in land are prerequisite for proper land management. When land rights are well laid out, there is sustainable management on land which culminates to improved welfare of individuals and economic growth of a nation. The terms property rights and land rights will be used concurrently for this paper. Uganda as a country has gone through different land reforms in terms of land tenure from before the colonial era to date. The origin of the existing land tenure systems dates way back in 1900 when the British made their first attempt to formalise the means of holding land in Uganda. The colonial administration thought that customary land holding was not a good system of land rights ownership. The British, when signing the agreement, thought that they would be able to introduce freehold [1] as a unified system of land holding in Uganda as it was in Britain at that time. But that did not happen as firstly, they faced some resistance from some communities most especially in the northern part of the country. Secondly, the freehold concept that was introduced in Uganda was far different from what it was taken to be in Britain. As land tenure reforms were taking place, property rights were being transformed. This paper seeks to give a historical perspective of property rights and land tenure systems that are in existence in Uganda today by examining the different land tenure reforms Uganda as a country has passed through. The paper is part of an ongoing PhD thesis compilation by the author titled ‘ Modeling of Land Rights in the Property Register to Support the Property and Credit Market in Uganda’ Key words: Land tenure, land reforms, land right, Uganda [1] Freehold is a system of land tenure where land is held in perpetuity subject to statutory and common law qualifications.