JEHOASH Mayanja Nkangi is the chairman of the Uganda Land Commission, which is in charge of all government land. He explained to Sheila Kulubya why the Government is suddenly leasing a lot of its prime land to investors.
Qn: Why is there suddenly a rush to allocate prime land to investors, and especially land already in use?
Ans:It all comes down to the economic value. You might be using land for a certain purpose, but if something more economically valuable comes up, then you can change.
Qn:From where do you derive your mandate to re-allocate this land?
Ans: According to the 1998 Land Act, we are the custodians, managers and legal owners of all government land. So, whoever wants land must come to us because we are the only ones who can transfer this land. So, when you say Shimoni, the beneficiary is the Ministry of Education and not the people who are there or those who run the school. Similarly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the beneficiary of the land where Nsambya Police Barracks is located.
Qn:What factors do you take into account when re-allocating land?
Ans: If a piece of land was being used less optimally than its potential dictates, then we can do so. It's a question of looking at economic potential vis-a-vis the different uses of land.
Qn: Why don't you allocate the investors land elsewhere, instead of school land?
Ans:At the time when the schools were built there was no investor who wanted to use that land. But now, the circumstances have changed. We have to serve the two demands putting into consideration which one has a higher value. If you want to set up a hotel, you would want your hotel to be accessible to tourists because tourists don't want to travel long distances.
Qn: Why don't you advertise this land so that you get the best possible offer, instead of giving it to handpicked investors?
Ans: We do not really consider it economic to advertise because we have no shortage of applicants. In fact, we have more applications for land in the towns than land. We sit as a commission and consider the relative social and economical importance of the proposed projects before allocating any land.
Qn: Have you only been leasing the land or selling it as well?
Ans:Normally, we don't want to sell. I think we could lawfully do it. But we don't do it, but we have not sold any land yet.
Qn: For how long do you usually lease the land?
Ans: Initially, it's supposed to be five years. Suppose you say you want to have this land for a hotel then, we give you five years to make sure you do it because there is a danger that once you get a title, you might go and sell the land to someone else and get a difference. If after five years you have done what you said you wanted to do, then we extend the lease to 49 or 99 years.
Qn: What happens, if after the leasing, the investor changes his mind and decides to do something different from the that which he/she originally applied for the land?
Ans: If he did it without letting us know, we could revoke the application and consider other applicants for the land.
Qn: About how much land have you leased out over the last five years?
Ans: I do not know. I would need to check, but I know that we have leased out a lot of land.
Qn: How much money has been collected from the leasing of this land, and where does it all go?
Ans: I don't know how much money, but I know that it goes to the consolidated fund, which is the treasury of the Government.
Qn: How often do you meet to lease out the land?
Ans: We meet about once a month. We usually receive many applications for land, but mostly about residences and then investments.
Qn: How long does it take to process an application for land?
Ans: It takes a minimum of about 30 days.
Qn: How does one know whether there is land available?
Ans: We have an inventory. You can come to our offices, look through it and make an application.
Qn: There have been fears that some of this land is being given out to investors free of charge.
Ans: That is not true. Normally, when we offer a lease to someone, the government valuer values the land and that is the premium the leasee must pay.
Qn: Does the commission have the power to waive the premium?
Ans: I am not aware if we have the powers to do so. If we can, then we have never used it before, as far as I can remember. But if we do have that power, we must be very careful because this provision can be misused.
Qn: Is the premium a one-off settlement, or are there other charges?
Ans: The premium is a one-off and thereafter the leasee only pays annual ground rent.
Qn: Who determines the ground rent?
Ans: The Chief Government Valuer does that as well.
Qn: How different is your role from that of the Uganda Investment Authority in as far as procuring land for investment is concerned?
Ans: When it comes to land for investment, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) is the first port of call. UIA gives investors licences after appraising the value of a projects. But that does not stop us from examining the projects because we may also have alternative projects. Let's say someone has been given a licence to set up a mushroom farm and yet we have someone who wants to set up a university. We can overrule them depending on the circumstances.
Qn: Lately, the President appears to be involved in helping some investors acquire land. Is he allowed to do that?
Ans: The President has not leased out any land. The President may suggest an investor and may even talk to us, but ultimately, it's the Uganda Land Commission to sign away this land.
Qn: Why, then, do you allow the investors to bypass the commission instead of dealing with them directly?
Ans: You see, some of these investors probably don't even know that Uganda Land Commission exists. So, they go to the President and tell him what they want to do. He thinks about it and ultimately contacts us because there cannot be any lease without our involvement.
Qn: Have there been instances where the President has recommended an investor and you have turned him down?
Ans: Not that I know of. But that's because he has not been doing so as much as the media claims.
Qn: There are allegations that there are government officials who have acquired government land purportedly acting on behalf of the President or some big shot investors.
Ans: The problem is, I have not been here long enough to know of such things, so I cannot tell you as much as you may want from me. But I think the President should be on the lookout for people who claim to act in his name. Personally, when I am confronted with such a situation, I simply ask whoever is talking to me whether he or she has a legal position. If they don't, then I say I am sorry I cannot do that.
Qn: It would appear that there are more foreigners than locals acquiring land for investment. What are you doing as a commission to enable ordinary Ugandans to acquire land?
Ans: We have given many leases to Ugandans, although they may not be known. Each time we meet as commissioners, we lease land to people, many of them Ugandans.
Qn: How much land does the commission hold on behalf of the Government?
Ans: I cannot tell you offhand. But we have an inventory throughout the whole country. A lot of up-country land now belongs legally to district land boards rather than the Uganda Land Commission.
Qn: What is the relationship between the commission and the district land boards?
Ans: By law, we cannot give them orders. They take their own decisions and have their own land.
Therefore, if you want land that belongs to us, you come to us, if the district owns the land, you go to the district land board.
Qn: How then do you know who owns which land?
Ans: You can find out by going to the land registry in the Ministry of Lands. They will tell you who the owner is if the land has been surveyed and has a title deed.
Qn: Part of your mandate is to acquire land for the Government. How often do you do this?
Ans: Rarely. But it's true that sometimes we acquire land for the Government. And sometimes, we acquire it to give to some other people. Suppose there is a catastrophe, like heavy rains etc, and people are homeless and the Government urgently needs land to resettle them, we can buy land. For instance, we have been buying some land in Kibaale District and we are going to pass it on the Banyoro in the area.
Qn: What are the main challenges for the commission?
Ans: One of the difficulties we have is to make sure that we use the land without having it all being used up. But we may have to think about what type of land use we should have. Should we build horizontal or vertical? Otherwise, the population is growing so fast, but the land does not increase.
First published in the Sunday Vision: August 6, 2007
By SHEILA. C. KULUBYA
Qn: Why is there suddenly a rush to allocate prime land to investors, and especially land already in use?
Ans:It all comes down to the economic value. You might be using land for a certain purpose, but if something more economically valuable comes up, then you can change.
Qn:From where do you derive your mandate to re-allocate this land?
Ans: According to the 1998 Land Act, we are the custodians, managers and legal owners of all government land. So, whoever wants land must come to us because we are the only ones who can transfer this land. So, when you say Shimoni, the beneficiary is the Ministry of Education and not the people who are there or those who run the school. Similarly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the beneficiary of the land where Nsambya Police Barracks is located.
Qn:What factors do you take into account when re-allocating land?
Ans: If a piece of land was being used less optimally than its potential dictates, then we can do so. It's a question of looking at economic potential vis-a-vis the different uses of land.
Qn: Why don't you allocate the investors land elsewhere, instead of school land?
Ans:At the time when the schools were built there was no investor who wanted to use that land. But now, the circumstances have changed. We have to serve the two demands putting into consideration which one has a higher value. If you want to set up a hotel, you would want your hotel to be accessible to tourists because tourists don't want to travel long distances.
Qn: Why don't you advertise this land so that you get the best possible offer, instead of giving it to handpicked investors?
Ans: We do not really consider it economic to advertise because we have no shortage of applicants. In fact, we have more applications for land in the towns than land. We sit as a commission and consider the relative social and economical importance of the proposed projects before allocating any land.
Qn: Have you only been leasing the land or selling it as well?
Ans:Normally, we don't want to sell. I think we could lawfully do it. But we don't do it, but we have not sold any land yet.
Qn: For how long do you usually lease the land?
Ans: Initially, it's supposed to be five years. Suppose you say you want to have this land for a hotel then, we give you five years to make sure you do it because there is a danger that once you get a title, you might go and sell the land to someone else and get a difference. If after five years you have done what you said you wanted to do, then we extend the lease to 49 or 99 years.
Qn: What happens, if after the leasing, the investor changes his mind and decides to do something different from the that which he/she originally applied for the land?
Ans: If he did it without letting us know, we could revoke the application and consider other applicants for the land.
Qn: About how much land have you leased out over the last five years?
Ans: I do not know. I would need to check, but I know that we have leased out a lot of land.
Qn: How much money has been collected from the leasing of this land, and where does it all go?
Ans: I don't know how much money, but I know that it goes to the consolidated fund, which is the treasury of the Government.
Qn: How often do you meet to lease out the land?
Ans: We meet about once a month. We usually receive many applications for land, but mostly about residences and then investments.
Qn: How long does it take to process an application for land?
Ans: It takes a minimum of about 30 days.
Qn: How does one know whether there is land available?
Ans: We have an inventory. You can come to our offices, look through it and make an application.
Qn: There have been fears that some of this land is being given out to investors free of charge.
Ans: That is not true. Normally, when we offer a lease to someone, the government valuer values the land and that is the premium the leasee must pay.
Qn: Does the commission have the power to waive the premium?
Ans: I am not aware if we have the powers to do so. If we can, then we have never used it before, as far as I can remember. But if we do have that power, we must be very careful because this provision can be misused.
Qn: Is the premium a one-off settlement, or are there other charges?
Ans: The premium is a one-off and thereafter the leasee only pays annual ground rent.
Qn: Who determines the ground rent?
Ans: The Chief Government Valuer does that as well.
Qn: How different is your role from that of the Uganda Investment Authority in as far as procuring land for investment is concerned?
Ans: When it comes to land for investment, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) is the first port of call. UIA gives investors licences after appraising the value of a projects. But that does not stop us from examining the projects because we may also have alternative projects. Let's say someone has been given a licence to set up a mushroom farm and yet we have someone who wants to set up a university. We can overrule them depending on the circumstances.
Qn: Lately, the President appears to be involved in helping some investors acquire land. Is he allowed to do that?
Ans: The President has not leased out any land. The President may suggest an investor and may even talk to us, but ultimately, it's the Uganda Land Commission to sign away this land.
Qn: Why, then, do you allow the investors to bypass the commission instead of dealing with them directly?
Ans: You see, some of these investors probably don't even know that Uganda Land Commission exists. So, they go to the President and tell him what they want to do. He thinks about it and ultimately contacts us because there cannot be any lease without our involvement.
Qn: Have there been instances where the President has recommended an investor and you have turned him down?
Ans: Not that I know of. But that's because he has not been doing so as much as the media claims.
Qn: There are allegations that there are government officials who have acquired government land purportedly acting on behalf of the President or some big shot investors.
Ans: The problem is, I have not been here long enough to know of such things, so I cannot tell you as much as you may want from me. But I think the President should be on the lookout for people who claim to act in his name. Personally, when I am confronted with such a situation, I simply ask whoever is talking to me whether he or she has a legal position. If they don't, then I say I am sorry I cannot do that.
Qn: It would appear that there are more foreigners than locals acquiring land for investment. What are you doing as a commission to enable ordinary Ugandans to acquire land?
Ans: We have given many leases to Ugandans, although they may not be known. Each time we meet as commissioners, we lease land to people, many of them Ugandans.
Qn: How much land does the commission hold on behalf of the Government?
Ans: I cannot tell you offhand. But we have an inventory throughout the whole country. A lot of up-country land now belongs legally to district land boards rather than the Uganda Land Commission.
Qn: What is the relationship between the commission and the district land boards?
Ans: By law, we cannot give them orders. They take their own decisions and have their own land.
Therefore, if you want land that belongs to us, you come to us, if the district owns the land, you go to the district land board.
Qn: How then do you know who owns which land?
Ans: You can find out by going to the land registry in the Ministry of Lands. They will tell you who the owner is if the land has been surveyed and has a title deed.
Qn: Part of your mandate is to acquire land for the Government. How often do you do this?
Ans: Rarely. But it's true that sometimes we acquire land for the Government. And sometimes, we acquire it to give to some other people. Suppose there is a catastrophe, like heavy rains etc, and people are homeless and the Government urgently needs land to resettle them, we can buy land. For instance, we have been buying some land in Kibaale District and we are going to pass it on the Banyoro in the area.
Qn: What are the main challenges for the commission?
Ans: One of the difficulties we have is to make sure that we use the land without having it all being used up. But we may have to think about what type of land use we should have. Should we build horizontal or vertical? Otherwise, the population is growing so fast, but the land does not increase.
First published in the Sunday Vision: August 6, 2007
By SHEILA. C. KULUBYA
No comments:
Post a Comment