Dr. Dan Twebaze, the Managing Director, Twed Property Development has volunteered to sponsor three consecutive consultations in the review of Law of trusts, which governs property ownership and development in Uganda. The current law of trusts in Uganda is lacking according to legal experts who recently held a consultative meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, organized by Uganda Law Reform Commission (ULRC), at Kampala Hotel Africana.
Dr. Twebaze said the Law of trusts is very important to attract investors in the country, calling upon legal experts to expedite the review of the current law, as it lacks both content and substance.
“As Twed Property Development, we are willing to fund the next three consultations on the Law of trusts to create a fair Law of trustees in Uganda,”he said, amidst applause from participants at the consultative meeting.
ULRC defines a trust as a relationship that arises whenever a person called the trustee, holds property for the benefit of some other persons who are termed beneficiaries. Dr. Twebaze argues that; the Law of trusts in Uganda does not protect investors on customary land because it’s not their property.
“The Law of trusts needs to be amended to expand the powers of the trustee if we are to promote investments in Uganda,”he added.
Robert Kirunda, a Legal consultant on the Law of trusts at the meeting, labored to explain the bottlenecks of the Law of trusts in Uganda at the moment. He said trusts Laws are one of the underrated Laws in Uganda because the Law has a lot of what he termed as “Ambiguity”.
He said the Law of trusts does not clearly spell out the powers of an estate administrator, when it comes to transfer of ownership to another person.
“Can an administrator of an estate give powers of Attorney to Another person? The powers are supposed to be given by a competent court,”he said.
Dr. Ronald Kakungulu Mayambala, during panel discussions, said Uganda Law of trusts conflicts with some foreign Laws, which discourages investors.
“For example, traditional courts are also recognized in Uganda to handle matters of trusts, especially on inheritance of property of dead family members, which may contradict with some foreign Laws regarding inheritance,”he said.
Dr. Kakungulu in addition said the Ugandan Law of trusts on inherited property has been invaded by greed, where those entrusted with holding property on behalf of a family end up selling off or grabbing the property fraudulently.
“We have been invaded by a strong culture of greed, especially on land issues. We should come up with a Law to deal with distrust,”he said.
He said there is also a need to ensure the Law of trusts addresses the traditional trustees and allowsn trustees powers to take decisions, instead of going by the will of the dead people, especially on matters of property inheritance.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
