Land Records

& Registration
IN UGANDA [1908-2016]

MINISTRY OF LANDS, HOUSING

AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
The Land Component
THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development 1
 The first Certificates of Map showing
Registration issued in Final Certificate
Uganda. (FC) and Owner.

Land Records The Survey Process

The land records in Uganda are among the first records created. The whole survey process which was done systematically, started
They originated from the 1900 Buganda Agreement which provided in 1904 covered the area from Ssingo County and was concluded in
for the allotment of land. Shortly after its signing, the first steps Buvuma Islands in May 1936 at an estimated cost of 200,000 pounds.
were taken to establish a Land and Survey Department and the
first Chief Surveyor arrived in the Country in 1901. It was proposed The survey task, which initially was thought to be easy and simple
that the first settlement survey would take 10 years to complete. ended up being complex, long and expensive. The original one
In 1902, after establishment of the initial topographical survey, the thousand allocatees virtually quadrupled. Claims and complex land
chief surveyor gave his estimate as 14 years at a cost of 76,000 dealings developed. The First World War also caused further delays.
pounds. It was with this estimate in mind that the work was A systematic method of survey was used with the policy of first
eventually started upon what came to be called the Mailo Survey dealing with those claims lying in the fertile and densely settled
of Buganda in July 1904. counties in the vicinity of Kampala and working outwards in a
radical fashion to survey the relatively fewer claims in the outlying
The allotment lists were prepared and confirmed by Mengo Lukiiko. areas.
Once confirmed, each claim was further evidenced by the issue
of a Provisional Certificate (PC) pending formal demarcation and In September 1904, the Registration of Documents Ordinance came
survey. After survey and the production of plans, an allocatee’s into force. The Chief Surveyor was also appointed the Principal
mailo interest was recognised by the issuance of a Final Certificate Registrar of Documents with effect from 1905. This law provided for
(FC) supported by a dimensional plan. This in turn led to the the compulsory registration of all documents conferring right, title
issuance of a Mailo – Owner Certificate of Title upon its registration or interest in immovable property, except those of a testamentary
under the Ordinance of 1908. The first titles were made in 1908 and nature. This was the first legislative attempt to provide for the
were distributed by Sir Hesketh Bell, the Governor of Uganda on maintenance of adequate land records but was superseded, before
2nd January 1909. These PC’s and FC’s are the first land records in in came into effective operation, by the Registration of Titles law.
Uganda.

2 Records & Regisration in Uganda Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development 3
 Difficulties Encountered
a) Complex and lengthy process
After getting a PC, allocatee’s lay claim for a particular area. Upon
survey the land could be less than allocated, necessitating him/her
to look for extra elsewhere. Even at initial laying claim, an allocatee
of say 3,000 acres, could lay claim to pieces of land in different
counties, eg 1,000 in Kyaggwe, 500 in Kibuga and 1,500 in Ssingo.
This made the survey and titling process more complex, tedious and
lengthy.

Surplus estates - Once an allocatee surveyed his/her entitlement as

per the PC, any excess area became surplus estate which automatically
Cadastral Index Map reverted to the Crown. However, the Chiefs redistributed some of
these surplus estates by surrendering equivalent land from lesser
desirable areas to better desirable areas.

b) Paper Claims
The Mailo settlement, at that time, was like a rolling snowball which
increases in size as it proceeds. No staff were available to attend
to the mutations occurring upon the estates already demarcated.
The work which had been estimated to end by 1918 was way behind
schedule and was interrupted by the 1st World War.

Clearly something had to be done to increase the officers and pass

on expertise to locals to assist in the survey. Since people could
not get the survey services in time, they resorted to having their
claims registered onto the titles and would get a paper confirming
registration of their claim. This gave rise to many paper claims on
the title which made the register become more of a register of
claims/ caveats rather than a register of titles.

Paper Claims

4 Records & Regisration in Uganda Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development 5
c) Lack of adquate trained personnel Land Records [Period 1943-1956]
The lack of adequate trained personnel gave rise to the establishment At this point in time, all records were centrally kept at the Lands
of a survey training school for training plain tablers to assist the and Survey office in Entebbe. The title records were increasing in
surveyors, hence the School for Survey and Land Management being number and the demand for the land services had extended beyond
located in Entebbe. the native Buganda region. The Table below shows statistics of the
parcels surveyed and titled at that time.
When the allotment survey was completed in 1936, with the complex
Year Plots Plots Total No. Current No. of
land records generated, a decision was made to archive the claims surveyed surveyed of Plots mutations Titles
by Govt privately surveyed issued
which were the root of the mailo titles. This was done from 1936
1954 1,961 - 1,961 - 1,123
onwards. After archiving, these records were closed and Mailo titles
1955 2,721 - 2,721 - 2,408
used (Section 32 of the Registration of Titles Act). 1956 3,294 806 4,100 - 3,847
1957 5,832 1,135 6,967 7,929 6,136
1958 8,395 1,737 10,132 7,665 7,634
1959 8,500 1,000 9,500 6,088 8,413
1960 8,156 833 8,989 4,941 7,293
1961 6,431 825 6,756 2,698 5,222
1962 4,843 321 5,164 2,910 6,443
Source: Lands and Surveys Department Annual Report, 1954 - 1962

A decision was made to create zonal and branch offices to take

services nearer to the people. This gave rise to 7 branch offices
of Mukono, Bukalasa (Luweero District), Mityana, Masaka, Fort
Portal, Mbarara and Kabale for mailo and native freehold titles.
The leasehold and freehold titles of the rest of the country stayed
at headquarters. These became operational in 1956. Zonal offices
were created at Mbale, Arua, Gulu, Kabale, FortPortal to cater for
other land management services, particularly surveys and land
administration.

Before transfer of the Mailo records, a decision was also made to

improve the method of title referencing of the mailo titles from the
The School of Land Managment, Entebbe register volume and folio method (MRV). These were also closed
and archived and Mailo Block and Plot titles created. At closure,
only the active instruments were carried forward to the new title i.e
the Registered Proprietor and encumbrances still affecting the land.

6 Records & Regisration in Uganda Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development 7
 Storage of Land Records
[Before Computerisation]
The records at the centre increased in number despite the facilities
remaining the same. The title records came to about 592,000. The
situation of the records before computerisation was as seen below:

Mailo Title and System Deed Plan

Kampala Mailo Office Leasehold Registry

This impacted on delivery of service and on the integrity of land

records.

Computerisation & Modernisation

of the Land Registry
The Ministry created six zonal offices, in the first phase. These are
KCCA, Wakiso, Jinja, Mukono, Masaka and Mbarara which are now
functional with all land services in that geographical area. The
districts for the second phase include: Lira, Kabarole, Gulu, Arua,
Mbale, Kibaale and Masindi. The third phase includes districts of
Luweero, Rukungiri, Mpigi, Soroti, Tororo, Moroto, Mityana, Kabale
MRV and Kyadondo (Kasangati).

8 Records & Regisration in Uganda Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development 9
Benefits of Computerization
Uganda’s Computerized Land Registration System is now one of
the best in Africa. The system is more responsive to the needs and
demands of the citizens and business clients. A number of benefits
are now visible, thanks to the Political and Technical supervision
and persistence of implementing the Land Information System (LIS).

High level Political and technical delegations from African countries

such as Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt, Southern Sudan,
Nigeria and Mali have come to learn and replicate the method used
by Uganda to computerize its Land Registry. This achievement has
turned Uganda’s Land Registry into a model which other African
countries are now following.

The problems of missing land records has been eliminated.

Customer Care points have been set up as part of the process to
facilitate land administration transactions and speedy response to
customer needs. Most challenges which were experienced under
the manual system have been contained. These include: Multiple
allocations of the same plot; Fraud and forgeries; Landuse abuses;
Encroachment on road reserves; wrong and overlapping surveys;
inefficient revenue generation and loss of revenue; and rampant
subdivisions, amendments and false survey information.

The implementation of the computerized system has led to: reduced

time and costs in land transactions; provision of in-built security
measures for ensuring accuracy, reliability of registry records and
ensure their integrity; easy identification and prevention of fraud
and illegal transaction; facilitate search and verification of title
information in the shortest possible time; facilitate monitoring
and analysis of market and rental values of land and property; and
after enactment of the Land Information System Law, there shall be
provision of a special online access to Courts, banks and financial
institutions and Real Estate agents.

10 Records & Regisration in Uganda Ministry

Ministry of
of Lands,
Lands, Housing
Housing && Urban
Urban Development
Development 11
11
 Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development (MLHUD)
Office of the Spokesperson,
Plot 13/15 Century Building, Parliament Ave I P. O. Box 7096 Kampala [U]
Tel: +256 414 230879, +256 414 373511 I website: www.mlhud.go.ug
email: [email protected], [email protected].
October, 2016

Government Communication Strategy Implementation series: no. 23

Design & Print: Smart Designs Ltd 0772644835

12 Records & Regisration in Uganda