Chief Justice asks Museveni to champion formulation of law on land evictions

The Chief Justice has asked President Museveni to facilitate the process of formulating laws and all inclinations concerning land evictions.

According to Bart Katureebe said the Judiciary is facing challenges such as adjudication of land cases, delaying cases involving mishandling of cases, which have left no respect and trust in the Judiciary by the public especially the poor and oppressed evicted victims.

“Mr President we recently asked the government to come up with guidelines on land evictions because this problem has made many suffer and the Judiciary is blamed. I would request you to facilitate this move,” Katureebe told the press on the sidelines of 21^st Judges’ Conference in Kampala.

The conference was opened by President Museveni.

Chief Justice’s request for land eviction laws follows the same argument by the head of Commission of Land Inquiry Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, who also asked the legislature to enact laws on the same issue.

During the public outreach mass held over the weekend, Bamugemereire said, “The other day a judge issued a ruling ordering the government to come up with guidelines on land evictions in seven months. This was a very good revelation that even the Judiciary has seen. The ball now lays in the hands of government,” she said.

Land eviction is now regarded as the country’s biggest property problem. Last year, hundreds of families were evicted under unclear court orders with some judges making a ruling without visiting the contested plots.

Such examples include the Lusanja eviction where over 200 families lost their homes under a mistaken eviction order made by a judge who didn’t visit the place in question.

On the issue of visiting the contested areas, Katureebe warned judges and magistrates to always be clear on decisions they tend to make concerning land disputes because they do much impact on society, both rural and urban.

“Friends, I urge you to strive and visit lands in question. Listen to the complaints on the ground as they might help solve the problem of illegal evictions,” he advised.