Commencement of the construction of Malaba-Kampala Standard gauge Railway, Kampala Jinja Highway and many other government projects are in advanced stages.
The development was revealed by Hon. Betty Amongi the Minister of lands during a press conference at the Uganda media center in Mbarara.
However, the minister revealed that commencement of civil works has been delayed by land acquisition process since the areas around Namanve is highly encroached on by illegal occupants.
She says occupants are demanding hefty amounts of money in compensation in order to give way for the projects. However, Amongi said most of the certificates of title in the area were offered erroneously.
“Most of the claimants fall within Namanve central forest reserve and the surrounding wetland along the shores of Lake Victoria. This is so, irrespective of the clear provisions of the law that prohibit certain activities, settlement, or titling of such land by private individuals” she said.
The minister explains that it is against this background that government has with immediate effect ordered the cancellation of all the titles issued within Namanve forest reserve and the wetland, to pave way for the proposed infrastructure development projects.
Other than the SGR and the Kampala-Jinja express Highway, government is also planning to construct Bukasa inland port and Namanve-Luzira power line.
The minister says Namanve together with the villages of Bukasa, Kolo, Senyi and Wankolokolo stretching from the now Wakiso to Mukono districts was in 1948 declared a central forest reserve and gazetted with enabling statutory instrument under Cap 2 of 1962 laws of Uganda.
She explains that the titles granted to private encroachers by Wakiso District are erroneous.
“For a person or an applicant, to qualify to be granted a free hold interest such a person ought to have been under a customary tenant, is settled in that land, is living or using the land being applied for or the land should have been available and free for allocation. This was not the case in the Namanve forest reserve” Among told the press.
She adds that government has directed the office of titles to exercise the powers under section 91 of the land act to cancel certificates of title that were wrongly or illegally obtained.
According to Amongi, only 25 titles have been identified and notice of cancelation has been issued to the respective individuals and companies, and the cancelation exercise will not attract any compensation by government.
Consequently, applications for titles before Wakiso district land board and not yet submitted for titling are to be rejected for the same reasons while those who are had completed survey and were issued with deed plans but had not yet submitted their application to district land board are advised not to do so because the application will not be entertained.
