By Mike Ssegawa
Buganda premier Charles Peter Mayiga has written his first newspaper article in Daily Monitor, four years since he assumed office of the Katikkiro.
In the article discussing the itching land questions in the country, the Katikkiro highlights six major causes of land fights.
Surprisingly, where many politicians blame absentee landlords in some parts of the country, especially in Bunyoro and the communal land tenure as deterrents to land usage, Mayiga believes the number one problem was the police’s inadequacies in investigating land cases.
The Buganda premier also puts the blame on the doors of magistrates who take long to rule on the cases, as well as the fast growing population. Mr Mayiga says, “ The need for land has increased its value – making it a very important resource than it was many years ago. This inevitably leads to conflicts over land, as the growing numbers fight over the same size of land.” This problem, according to the Katikkiro has heightened activities on land and therefore the land pressure.
In the article published in Daily Monitor’s opinion section, Mayiga writes, “The fifth issue is the inefficiency and confusion in all the country’s land registries.” He advises thus, “. There is need to streamline operations in the Ministry of Lands to ensure that land registration and general processing takes the shortest time possible.”
And lastly, Mayiga blames politicians for interfering in land conflicts therefore complicating the matters.
“ Instead of strengthening the courts of law, politicians spend the best part of their time chiding them. Everyone with a land problem thinks it should be solved by politicians, who give contradictory directives to court rulings much of the time.”
Katikkiro Mayiga ends with a warning, “Any tinkering with the law that is politically motivated will never solve land conflicts nor enhance infrastructure development.”
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