Land Policy and the Evolving Forms of Land Tenure in Masindi District, Uganda

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. Of particular concern is the impact of the 1975 Land Reform Decree which is but the most radical and perhaps far reaching piece of legislation in Uganda's post-independence history. The 1955 East African Royal Commission Report recommended the individualization of tenure as the most ideal form of tenure for socio-economic development. The colonial government accepted the proposals and drew out a programme for land titling.1 In many areas of Uganda these land tenure proposals were rejected; in Teso and Lango there were even riots.