Mukono district lands office staff, Aisha Nantongo was on Friday arrested over a missing land title. Nantongo, who works as a customer care officer, was arrested on orders of the Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba after she failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the title which she received and got lost from her.
This was during the launch of Uganda’s online land information search portal in greater Mukono at the Lands Ministerial Zonal Office (MZO) held at Mukono Municipality on Friday.
Patrick Peter Kirunda, the title owner, said during the meeting that he handed it over to Nantongo on April 3, 2023, to remove a mortgage.
Man Arrested from Court Audience for Alleged Involvement in Murder
After handing over his original title to the officer, Kirunda was given 21 days to return for his issue to be resolved but he demanded the title for the past one year in vain.
“My home is in Namutumba district and I incur transport and hotel fees all the times I come to Mukono to follow up on my land title, and it is proving to be expensive yet I am getting to positive results,” he told the minister.
To his disappointment, Kirunda said that the last time he sought the attention of the Mukono lands Principal Administrative Secretary, Doreen Tumushabe, she directed him to apply for a special title, a process he declined to take because it is too expensive.
“It’s unfortunate that Tumushabe whom I thought would propel her junior staff to give me my land title but instead she told me to get money and apply for a special title. I handed in my original title and I have proof as Nantongo received it. It is unfair again to ask me to pay other charges to get my title yet I am not the one who lost it,” he said.
When asked to explain where Kirunda’s title is, Nantongo just apologized and asked him to provide her with the title Block and Plot number in order for her to check again in the system, something which the Minister did not entertain saying it was total negligence because its now a full year when she failed to produce the title.
Nabakooba therefore asked the Mukono deputy RDC, Hassan Kasibante to have Nantongo arrested and hand her over to Mukono Police Station to record a statement.
Paul Ssemwogerere, a resident of Mukono, accused the MZO officials of demanding money from him for every service he sought from their office. “On one occasion, Nantongo wanted to charge me sh300,000 before giving me my land title,” he alleged.
Kasibante, the deputy RDC said that at least 70% of the residents of Mukono are bibanja holders, calling for community sensitization about their land rights.
“Its high time the MZO staff left their computers in offices and joined our district security team to move around different villages sensitizing the masses about the services of this office to the community. If the Chief Magistrate, district police boss, resident state attorney and others journey with us, why not lands officials?” he asked.
Mukono lands MZO boss, Tumushabe told the minister that they were having trouble verifying documents such as court orders and letters of administration presented by the clients.
“Fraud has been alarming because of the overwhelming number of imposters, posing as ministry of lands officials and soliciting money from people,” she said.
Tumushabe however noted that with the new invention of the Land Information System (LIS) and now online land information search portal, they can make 2,499 land transactions in three days with less fraud and other challenges registered.
“With the LIS, we are networking with other government agencies such as the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and National Information Registration Authority (NIRA),” she noted.
Nabakooba said if somebody hands over a title to MZO officers, they expect it to be kept well.
“Somebody has given a testimony of how he handed over his title and it got lost in the hands of my officers. They have to explain to the police how this happened,” she said.
The minister said that she was dismayed to see that Nantongo could not give a convincing explanation for the missing title, portraying a high level of laxity.
In addition to her arrest, the minister directed the MZO head, Tumushabe to make sure that she takes all the necessary stapes to make sure that Kirunda can get his title without him footing any other expenses.
“On top of neglect of duty, you cannot ask the owner again to put in more money to pay for your recklessness,” she said.
Nabakooba asked Tumushabe to ensure that they have safe places where they can secure such people’s important documents to avoid similar embarrassments in future.
The online public portal was first unveiled in Wakiso district by the Minister of State for Lands, Sam Mayanja, it is intended to ease access to land information remotely.
Highlighting how the portal will resolve encumbrances, Nabakooba noted that all land offices across the country should act as places of safety to enable all clients to keep their records without any alterations.
“This portal will work along with the existing land information system. The portal has already shown the potential to reduce land conflicts since all land transactions are tracked in the comfort of your home or office,” she said.
Deputy RDC Kasibante suggested that for the government to safeguard the safety of bibanja holders who are mostly sold by the landlords and get evicted without compensation, the ministry should start registering and issuing them with a formal document which safeguards their rights on their bibanja.
“Such documents would be legally recognized showing the size of the bibanja, unlike today when the sale agreements these people are keeping cannot specifically show the size of their plots,” he said.