SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS ON COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT IN UGANDA APRIL 2019 Disclaimer: The contents of the research are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Voice. All errors are our own and not intended ii CONTENTS ACRONYMS V LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES V FOREWORD VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS VII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VIII 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1 2.0 CONCEPTUALIZATION OF LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK GOVERNING COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITION IN UGANDA 12 3.0 COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITIONS AND GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES STAGNATION: EXAMINING THE CAUSES 49 4.0 STUDY CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 83 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 90 CASES AND INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 95 FOOTNOTES 95 LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS WHO VALIDATED THE REPORT 97 iii iv ACRONYMS ALC Area Land Committee CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CCO Certificate of Customary Ownership CGV Chief Government Valuer CLA Compulsory Land Acquisition DLB District Land Board DLT District Land Tribunal GCALA Guidelines for Compensation Assessment under Land Acquisition MDAs Ministries Departments Agencies PAPs Project Affected Persons UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights RAP Resettlement Action Plan LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLE 1: Summary of Activities Involved In Compulsory Land Acquisition TABLE II: Legal Provisions Augmenting Women’s Land Related Rights TABLE III: Summary of the Laws Governing Compulsory Land Acquisition in Uganda TABLE IV: Principles Determining Valuation in the GCALA TABLE V: Delayed Projects in 2016/2017 Due To MDAs Understaffing TABLE VI: Delayed Projects in 2016/2017 Due To Disputes on Compensation TABLE VII: Summary of Delayed Submission of Documentations for PAPs FIGURE I: Summary of Government related delays in CLA FIGURE II: Summary of Procedural Occasioned CLA Delays FIGURE III: Summary of the Causes of Delayed CLA and Subsequently Infrastructural Development Stagnation v FOREWORD Currently in Uganda, there is no contention of the fact that the right to property, in partic- ular land ownership is one of the most threatened constitutionally guaranteed rights. The rush to own land either genuinely out of hard work or as a money laundering venture for those engaged in grand corruption in the country has reached heightened levels. Indeed, massive evictions perpetrated by individual land grabbers are the order of the day. The challenges are enormous especially for poor and/or vulnerable land owners of any tenure. Despite the various institutions both formal and informal that have been established to deal with land and property related wrangles the situation seems to be getting out of hand with increasing cases of unlawful evictions, land grabbing, rendering the poor and vulnerable landless These notions surrounding land wrangles at the micro-level, between individuals are well documented in the media. Of critical importance as well but somewhat missing in public discourse, and from an ev- idence-based point of view is the increasing demand by the government of Uganda to compulsorily acquire land from its citizens as it seeks to engineer economic development. The report on the situation analysis in compulsory land acquisition management in Ugan- da provides a valuable window, into the modalities governing compulsory land acquisition, which as it stands now, if not reformed fundamentally, is one of the rising threats to enjoy- ment of the guaranteed right to property ownership in Uganda. The report clearly, does not purport to present everything there is to know about compulsory land acquisition in Uganda, but triggers and rejuvenates a discourse on what a reformed legislative framework governing compulsory land acquisition should entail especially in relation to vulnerable groups such as women and customary land owners. Equipped with evidence from past literature and field incursions, the report puts to test the attempted government in 2017 to amend Article 26 of the Constitution that guarantees the right to property for compul- sory acquisition and possession of land even before adequate and prior compensation to the land owner. In this new age of the land rush, African countries positioning themselves as hubs of in- vestment, conducive for industrialization to the foreign world, this report reminds of the need to strengthen procedural guarantees of rights protection in processes of compulsory land acquisition. It is critical that the right questions are asked today and possible answers posed for discourse to further buttress land rights protection even for the future. It is hoped that the findings of the report can be used by various stakeholders, including land actors to inform, inspire and catalyze advocacy initiatives towards both institutional and legislative re- forms which are pillars of a fair land governance system that every citizen of Uganda is owed. Sandra Oryema Chairperson, Board of Directors LASPNET vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Legal Service Provider’s Network, a Network of 54 Non-Government Organization mandated to coordinate and build capacity of its members to deliver quality and affordable legal services to the poor and vulnerable. The Vision of the Network is to see a “free and Justice society.” This mandate is executed through targeting three critical aspects of Net- working and Coordination, Lobbying and Advocacy; Research and Knowledge to support evidence-based gathering to improve Access to Justice. In line with this, LASPNET em- barked on a research to interrogate and analyse the process of compulsory land acquisi- tion management in Uganda . The study aimed at analyzing the current situation regarding the operationalization of the government policy, legal and institutional framework on land governance in Uganda and document its impact on selected government infrastructural projects since 2008-2018. This research is timely as it comes at a time when we are faced with rampant land disputes in Uganda. The demand for massive investment and infrastructure has increased land dis- putes which have in the recent past been a source of conflict and insecurity with dire hu- man rights consequences especially for the poor and vulnerable communities throughout the country. This situation is against existence of policy, legal and institutional mechanisms aimed at ensuring proper land administration in Uganda. We remain hopeful that this evidence- based research will provide a basis upon which better policies and laws will be enacted bearing in mind the fundamental right to individual ownership of property. In that regard, we extend our sincere appreciation to our donors VOICE who provide -fi nancial support which made the research possible and to OXFAM for the technical guidance. Our utmost appreciation as a Network goes to the Consortium Partners with whom we are implementing the Sudden Opportunity Project that is ActionAid Uganda and Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Uganda (PELUM) for the partnership and collaboration during the research . The Consultant, Mr. James Nkuubi whose resolute and selfless com- mitment beyond his ordinary official engagements, put in time to have this informative research output We are further grateful for the contributions of the various stakehold- ers who include: Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development; Legal Aid Service Providers, (LASPs), Judiciary, Uganda Police Force, Members of Parliament, Civil Society Organizations, land actors and academia for improving the report. We cannot forget the grassroot communities who were interviewed and freely shared their opinions which sig- nificantly enriched the report. Finally, the LASPNET Secretariat Staff for their coordination support throughout the entire research process. To you all, LASPNET remains heavily indebted for your insurmountable cooperation and support which is of great value addition to the efforts towards inclusive development. Sylvia Namubiru Mukasa Executive Director, LASPNET vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The study focused on mainly three objectives; An Assessment of the Available and Operational Legal and Policy Framework Governing Compulsory Land Acquisition and Attendant Processes in Uganda; Inquire into the availability and effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanisms on compulsory land acquisition disputes/processes; Through analysis of select documented contentious compulsory land acquisitions, in- quire into the validity of government stand/assertion that projected affected persons’ rejection of compensation fees is the main cause of the delay in the implementa- tion of government infrastructural development programmes; and assessing how, by way of recommendations, compulsory land acquisition governance framework can be improved to balance both property rights of citizens and government infrastructural development agenda (public interest). The study was informed by both desktop and field work incursions in affected areas of the country including but not limited to the Albertine region, Wakiso and Kampala. Some of the findings include the following classified into the objectives detailing both the positive and negative aspects; 1. AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AVAILABLE AND OPERATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK GOVERNING COMPUL- SORY LAND ACQUISITION AND ATTENDANT PROCESSES IN UGANDA 1.1 Progressive Aspects of the Legal and Policy Framework A. Three Tier Law on Compulsory Land Acquisition The legal framework governing compulsory land acquisition in Uganda is part land/ property law governed under the National