KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Judith Nabakooba, has revealed that the government is planning to change the land title system to prevent forgery and duplication.
Ms Nabakooba said this in a meeting on Friday last week with district land officers where she revealed that among the plans in the new system is the security feature added on the land application form and title and fully digitalizing the system.
“We shall engage stakeholders in the process because these are ideas that we bring up. You know anything to do with changing the form in land registration, you need to go through senior management, and top management, and it starts with the user department,” Ms. Nabakooba said.
“Then we shall also look at the features of the title. Can we enhance them? What can we do, because you realise that forged titles look like [the authentic ones]? You might even check and the signature appears the same but when you check in records, the file [does not exist],” she added:
The minister said currently the application forms for a land title only provide for a signature and the name of the area land committee and neighbours, which can easily be forged much as they are known in the area.
She added that either of the two documents should include new security features such as photos of the signatories, a national identification number (NIN) thumbprint and a signature that can be scanned.
Ms Nabakooba said if the plan goes through they intend to start by changing the application form since it is easy to amend and gazette.
“Forgery begins with the application form, especially public and government land because the forms are filled by the District Land Board and the area land committed,” Ms Nabakooba said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with DailyMonitor on Tuesday, Ms Nabakooba said the ministry is digitizing its system to make it more transparent. She said this process will hopefully be concluded by the end of the year.
“Because each detail is in the computer, the person (applying for a land title) will have information and will not be cheated. People are cheated because the information is not readily available,” Ms Nabakooba said.
The minister added that the new system would allow the public to apply for land titles online.
“Remember, if there is transparency, there is a clear timeline, people will know that for such a title I need two weeks or a month,” Ms Nabakooba said.
She added that in case of any issues, the public should visit the land office for assistance.
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