Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kampala (Agenzia Fides) – “The church objects to the spirit and substance of the Land Amendment Bill of 2007,” said Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya of Lugazi, President of the Ugandan Bishops’ Conference, at the close of the Mass held at the Martyrs’ Shrine at Namugongo, on the Feast of the Ugandan Martyrs, celebrated June 3.
“The Church says the land amendment Bill is not the right prescription to cure the rampant evictions. If passed, it may pose a further upset in the delicate relationship between the owners and bona fide tenants,” the Bishop continued.
“The Church also feels that the Bill pre-empted a nationwide consultation on land policy that should have taken place. We feel that land is very important and a vital principle of livelihood. The Church feels that there should be broad consultation with all the stakeholders to be able to generate enough information to establish a comprehensive and proper land policy,” he added.
In Uganda, over the course of the decades, a complex situation has begun to form concerning the question of land properties. In recent years, with a population that grows at a rate of about 3.2% per year, the differences have augmented among the owners who hold legal land titles and those who have lived on the land for generations and yet have no juridical title. At the beginning of the year, the local authorities issued a list of hundreds of cases of evictions that have been carried out in an unjust or illegal manner. The reform of the land Bill concedes greater powers to the central government, however at the expense of the local governments. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 05/06/2008)
