President Yoweri Museveni Tuesday confirmed a ‘mutual interest’ meeting with the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi took place at State House at Nakasero, Kampala.
President Museveni confirmed on his social media handles the meeting with the Kabaka of Buganda at State House at Nakasero.
The President tweeted: “Held a meeting with His Majesty the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II at Nakasero State Lodge. His Majesty was in the company of Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga and Prince David Wasajja. We discussed matters of mutual interest.”
President Museveni at the Heroes Day celebrations at Kololo Airstrip told the nation he was not comfortable with the mailo land system introduced after the 1900 agreement.
Museveni who referred to the system as ‘very bad’ said: “It is really very bad and not fair but some people support it. How do you allow these things to happen?”
President Museveni’s tough stance flagged the gates for cross-cutting opinion from Buganda leaning opposition and kingdom faithful who appeared on local media.
The question of Mailo land has been awash in the media in the last fortnight, with the Kabaka prominently expressing himself about the land question in his message while marking the 18th coronation anniversary in Masaka.
Kabaka Mutebi said: “We condemn those who deliberately create a situation to derail us from reminding government on what belongs to us. We have heard many people discuss about land in Buganda and many have said it is curtailing Uganda’s development. This is not true. Those who say this want to weaken the kingdom of Buganda.”
The King went on: “Such things bring sorrow to our hearts and make us question why land in other parts of the country is not mentioned ( as it is with Buganda). Buganda does not or has never wished to split from Uganda, neither has it and will never kick other citizens out(of Buganda).Why is the Buganda spirit of welcoming everyone being misinterpreted as a weakness?”
Several Mengo prior to the Kabaka’s message have come out with differing opinion about President Museveni’s position on the land subject.
Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga while appearing on NTV ahead of the Kabaka’s 18th coronation ceremony weighed in on the land question.
Katikkiro Mayiga said: “We shall never get the correct answer if we don’t stop politicizing these issues. Why are there land evictions in Uganda? Why did contemporary land evictions in Uganda begin in the 1990s? These are the questions that must be asked?”
Mailo Land Tenure System: The Indifenite Ownership of Land
The Mailo Land Tenure System is where land is registered and owned in eternity or perpetuity with its holder having a land title for it.
This land tenure in Uganda has its basis from the allocation of land pursuant to the 1900 Uganda Agreement, subject to legislative qualifications. Land in Uganda held under mailo tenure is mainly confined to the Central region of Uganda.
The system confers freehold granted by the colonial government in exchange for political co-operation under the 1900 Buganda Agreement.
Essentially feudal in character, the mailo tenure system recognizes occupancy by tenants (locally known as Kibanja holders), whose relationship with their overlords or land lords is governed and guided by the provisions of the Land Act.
Mailo land, like freehold is registered under the Registration of Titles Act. All transactions must therefore be entered in a register guaranteed by the state. Under this tenure, the holder of a mailo land title has absolute ownership of that land.
Mailo land tenure system also has features of freehold system. Here, land held under mailo tenure (about 9000 square miles) is confined to Buganda (central Uganda) and Bunyoro (western Uganda).
The British colonialists allocated mile-square blocks of land to Baganda notables in exchange for political cooperation.
At present, there are no more new titles issued for land administered under Mailo tenure since all titles were issued before 1928. What is being done today is a mere further subdivision of the already existing titles issued prior to 1928 plus changing the names on the titles during to new ownership.
Within the process of subdivision and that of transfer of ownership, both the applicant and the transferring land owner fill application forms with the zonal office of ministry of lands in their area. They then wait for the zonal office to accomplish the rest of the entire process.
Mailo Land tenure is mainly in Buganda, with some few portions of it parts of Ankole, Tooro sub-regions and Bunyoro among others. At present, there over 250,000 of Mailo Land title holders in Uganda courtesy of a majority having bought or inherited it.
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Award winning journalist and writer who has worked as a stringer for a couple of acclaimed South Africa based German journalists, covered 3 Ugandan elections, 2008 Kenya election crisis, with interests in business and sports reporting.
