Uganda commends GIZ on “success of responsible land policy” 

The project, RLP is currently being operated Teso and Central Uganda.

By Jonah Osike

Soroti – 28 October 2021: The government of Uganda through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has applauded the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) for its tireless efforts in the implementation of “Responsible Land Policy (RLP)” in the country.

 The project, RLP is currently being operated Teso and Central Uganda.

In 2019, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development partnered with GIZ to implement the said project.

In Teso, it is targeting customary land while it targets private mailo land in central region’s districts of Mityana, Mubende, Kasanda and Gomba.

The project is spearheaded by the GIZ and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The first stage of the project involves informing the target population about its rights and its scope for protecting its land rights in the long term.

Harrisson Irumba, the Assistant Commissioner Policy Analysis in the lands ministry noted that the impact of “Responsible Land Policy Project” in Uganda is noticeable in the communities across areas of Teso sub region and Central Uganda.

“I would like to thank the German Government and the European Union as development partners who have appreciated the need of improving land rights and tenure security and hence commissioned GIZ to implement the three project components in Uganda which apparently is a success,” he said at a recent meeting in Kampala.

Irumba says the project has operationalized what the National Land Policy and land Laws prescribe as “avenues for securing tenure rights of rural communities in Uganda”.

“Unlike customary land where Customary Certificates of Ownership (CCOs) had been issued, the GIZ project in Greater Mubende was the first of its kind to document the rights of lawful and bonafide occupants on private mailo land in Buganda region,” he noted.

He said the project has generated a lot of new experiences and lessons that are informing policy decisions in regard to mailo land tenure in Buganda.

The Responsible Land Policy Project in Uganda was initiated to ensure systematic documentation of the land rights of those living in rural areas and it is expected to achieve its intended purpose by 2023.