Naume Kabanda, the acting director of land management at the Ministry of Lands explained that the ministry is working on safeguarding the land rights of every community member to curb land wrangles.
Farmers have been asked to utilize their land to keep off encroachers.
The call was made on Thursday during the national
launch of the “Keep Your Land, Keep Your Seed” campaign in
Dokolo district. The campaign by the Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) is aimed at creating awareness and preventing loss of
land, loss of land productivity and loss of indigenous food varieties in
Uganda.
Its major objective is to advocate for the retention
of land and Indigenous seed/food varieties by the rural farming and pastoral
communities.
Naume Kabanda, the
acting director of land management at the Ministry of Lands explained that the
ministry is working on safeguarding the land rights of every community member
to curb land wrangles.
She was, however, quick to note that land has to be in
use to be safe.
//Cue in: “The argument is…
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With the rampant cases of land conflicts, Kabanda
explained that the country’s outdated land laws make it hard to bring land
justice under the land administration system.
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Prof Alfred Olwa, the Bishop of Lango
Diocese wondered why disputes over
family land, and the grabbing and encroachment by powerful individuals are common in the Lango sub-region.
Christopher Odongo, the
Diocesan Secretary for Education, who represented Olwa called for the enactment and
implementation of stringent policies on Land.
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Jimmy Ochom, the Land Right’s Coordinator at Oxfam
Uganda attributed the increasing incidences of food insecurity to the loss of Land.
He hopes that the government can regulate land sales.
//Cue in: “We want government…
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Dr. Theresa Auma, the Executive Director
of LEMU says the campaign will reveal the close connection between land
ownership and the ability of local farming communities to produce their food.
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Patience Baganzi, the Dokolo District
Police Commander advocated for women’s land rights saying without access to land, cases of domestic violence are rampant.
//Cue in: “When it comes…
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The “Keep Your Land, Keep Your Seed” campaign is a
call to action for especially land owners to overcome the pressures that render
them vulnerable to losing their land through land sales, land evictions and
even unfair conditions of land rentals which have led to massive loss of land
and land productivity in the country.
