This paper is a review of the Land Use Act of 1978 with a view to examining the implications of the Act for security of tenure and environmental conservation. The review indicates that while the inalienation of rights of use and ownership of land under the communal or group ownership tenure system limited access to land and security of tenure, it encouraged the protection and conservation of land resources and the physical environment.

This think piece sets out to:

Communal tenure in South Africa has had rises and falls in favour. This section will look at the issue from a pragmatic perspective of choice. This involves assessing what issues inform whether South Africa can chose either to replace or to ignore communal tenure by analysing what is likely to remain the same politically, socially and economically for the foreseeable future and what the forces are changing this situation. This assessment then allows us to assert some practical, general principles that inform the two projects with which this paper is concerned. 

Government is frequently charged with failing to finalise key policies relating to traditional authorities, for example, local government roles and functions, and communal land tenure. Whilst it is true that important issues remain unresolved, it is also true that the issues themselves are very complex and that some have become so politicised that rational debate is hindered. This section addresses some of these policy areas in a manner which hopefully enables rational debates and viable solutions. 

AFRA’s work at Ekuthuleni started in 1998. It’s now 2004, six years later, and we have to confess that we have failed. It is not possible to secure tenure at Ekuthuleni, for the purposes for which people want that security, within the current legal, technical and institutional frameworks. A small window of opportunity still exists that might allow us to reverse this judgement.

“Land registration and cadastral surveying in much of the developing world has reached a crossroads. It is not possible to continue with business as usual in the face of massive informality within the world's cities, and new more relevant approaches have to be developed”. (Fourie, 2000).

The ways in which people obtain land in Uganda are changing fast. Land that used to be secured through inheritance, gifts or proof of long-term occupancy is now more commonly changing hands in the market. Those with wealth and powerful connections are frequently able to override local rules and gain access to land at the expense of poorer individuals. Government-backed agribusiness investors receive large areas of land with benefits for some local farmers who are able to participate in the schemes, while other smallholders see their land access and livelihoods degraded.

Unfolding analysis reveals two types of land disputes prevalent in postwar northern Uganda: cases that involve a legitimate cause of action and those that do not.1 Since mediation and alternative forms of dispute resolution rely on parties’ willingness to negotiate in good faith, cases featuring ‘bad faith’ and land grabbing—where powerful parties intentionally exploit another person’s vulnerability in order to illegally2 claim land—pose a serious challenge for local land dispute mediators. Such mediators must wrestle with whether and how to remain neutral in the face of injustice.

Post-conflict northern Uganda has witnessed an increase in disputes over land. This has, to a great extent, been as a result of the armed conflict and its aftermath. Beyond that, other chaotic factors embedded in various social, legal, economic, and political aspects of this society have influenced the nature, gravity, and dynamics of these disputes and the way in which Traditional Institutions and the Local Council Courts have attempted to resolve them.

Since Karamoja is richly endowed with gold, marble, iron ore, tungsten, limestone, oil and gas, it has attracted many investors, in particular since the protracted  armed conflicts in northern Uganda started fading away. Approximately  1 7,000 km2 or 62% of the total land area of Karamoja has been licensed for mineral  exploration  and exploitation (Kabiswa, 2014).

This paper examines the evolution and the nature of the current forms of land tenure in Masindi District and the extent to which these forms impair or facilitate positive socio-economic changes. Such an examination is vital in light of the fact that there exists no convincing empirically grounded studies on the impact of the official land policies on the relationships between forms of land tenure, social structure and agricultural production.

This guide has been written as an information resource for government officials, community leaders, humanitarian aid workers, judges, lawyers and others whose responsibilities include upholding land and property rights in Uganda. It outlines the main provisions of Uganda’s constitutional and legal framework and the protection these provide to property rights. It briefly outlines the historical background to existing land tenure relations, describes the constitutional provisions relating to land in the 1995 Constitution and sets out the main provisions of the Land Act 1998.