Land Reform and Customary Rights: The Case of Uganda

Abstract

This article examines the Ugandan Land Act, 1998, which seeks to transform land relations throughout the country both by settling once and for all the vexed question as to the relative rights of “owners” and “tenants” of mailo land, and by providing procedures whereby persons may apply either for certificates of customary ownership or for freehold titles to their land. While the Act recognizes that in some areas it may be more appropriate for land to be held communally, it is the long-term aim that most land should be held on individual freehold title. However, the negotiability of such a title is undermined by a variety of provisions designed to protect customary rights.