By Peter Abanabasazi
The Orukurato (Parliament) of Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom has Friday passed a Land Policy aimed to stop people from encroaching on the kingdom land.
This after it was identified that there were rampant cases of some individual people grabbing and evicting people from the kingdom land in the name of the Omukama (king).
During the sitting, it was realised that there are some people in the royal lineage who evict the Omukama’s subjects from the land claiming that it was offered to them by the Royal Highness.
Jackson Byaruhanga, the Kingdom Minister for Natural Resources disclosed that some people have even titled the kingdom land without authorisation from the kingdom officials.
However, he said the kingdom authorities will invite such people to regularise the matter.
“The Constitution of Uganda stipulates that the kingdom is by law authorised to be the landlord of all the land that the Central Government restituted to it in 1993. So, any title that anybody got after the reinstatement of the kingdom but without its authority is null and void.” He said.
Adding: “However, since we are working for the people, we shall invite such people and guide them on how to regularise those titles in accordance with the rules and regulations governing the kingdom procedures. Those with expired land titles will renew them from the kingdom while those with running ones will be required to regularise them following the kingdom land laws.”
The Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom Premier, Andrew Byakutaaga, appreciated the policy saying land matters are one of the biggest menaces in the kingdom.
He said the kingdom has vast chunks of land that need to be titled for the institution to benefit from it financially adding that funds from that factor of production will assist in running the kingdom duties.
Mr Byakutaga said the kingdom officials will always use land registers to help them identify all kingdom’s land.
