Uganda's Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is tightening verification procedures for special certificates of title to curb fraud and improve transparency in the country's land registration system. Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba said the ministry aims to address weaknesses in the existing process by strengthening due diligence before special certificates are issued. The reforms are intended to promote transparency and equity in the land register while ensuring that people with legitimate interests in disputed land have an opportunity to raise objections.
Under the proposed procedure, applicants will be required to fill in an application form, obtain a statutory declaration before a commissioner for oaths and pay the prescribed taxes and fees. Where a duplicate certificate of title has been destroyed or damaged, the affected document will have to be presented to the registrar for examination as part of the verification process. The process will involve several levels of verification, beginning with local authorities and extending to the relevant technical and administrative offices. Local Council I committees, survey officials, sub-county authorities and the registrar will be informed about applications for special certificates of title, allowing the relevant offices to scrutinise the claims and establish the circumstances surrounding the land.
The ministry intends to conduct ground investigations lasting 30 days to establish the status of the land and verify information supplied by applicants before a decision is made. These checks are expected to help establish whether the land is occupied, whether competing claims exist and whether the application raises concerns that require further investigation. The ministry will also publish the names of people applying for special certificates in newspapers every month. These notices are intended to alert the public and give individuals who may have an interest in the land an opportunity to raise concerns before replacement certificates are issued.
The publication requirement is expected to strengthen public scrutiny by ensuring that applications are not processed without potentially affected parties being informed. Nabakooba said the overall objective is to safeguard the integrity of the land register and ensure that the replacement-title process is transparent, accountable and fair to people with legitimate claims. The ministry has indicated that it intends to consult relevant stakeholders as it works towards translating the guidelines into regulations under the Registration of Titles Act. The proposed changes would place greater emphasis on documentary verification, local-level awareness, physical investigations and public notices before special certificates are issued.