The government’s decision to compile a comprehensive inventory of public land and cancel illegally issued titles in forest reserves is not merely an administrative exercise. It is a long-overdue test of whether Uganda is prepared to protect public resources from the interests of the powerful, who have treated them as private property.
The Lands ministry says the exercise will identify, document and title government land across the country, with the aim of curbing fraud, encroachment and disputes. That is welcome. Poorly documented public land is an open invitation to fraudsters, speculators and politically connected individuals.
The case of Mabira and other central forest reserves demonstrates just how serious the problem has become. Government is finalising cancellation of 50 freehold titles created inside Mabira forest, while another 244 titles issued in other forest reserves in Mukono are also being targeted. Mabira alone covers nearly 30,000 hectares and has already suffered significant degradation.
But cancellation of titles should not become another announcement that generates headlines today and disappears from public attention tomorrow. Uganda has seen numerous campaigns against wetland and forest encroachment, only for illegal developments to return. The real challenge is enforcement and accountability.
It is particularly troubling that structures can continue to be developed on land that has already been caveated, with allegations that some physical planners have even approved building plans there. Such contradictions expose a deeper institutional problem. The government cannot protect public land when different arms of the State work against one another.
The proposed public land inventory, therefore, deserves more than bureaucratic enthusiasm. It should be transparent, publicly accessible and independently audited. Ugandans should be able to know what land belongs to the State, where it is located, who is occupying it, what it is designated for and what action is being taken against illegal occupants.
Most importantly, the exercise must not become a tool for selective eviction or political patronage. Every cancellation must follow the law, and legitimate claimants must have an avenue to challenge government decisions.
At the same time, possession of a title should not automatically become a shield for illegality when that title was obtained through fraud or over land that was never available for private ownership.
Public land is not government property in the narrow sense. It belongs to the people of Uganda. Forests, wetlands, road reserves and other public spaces serve generations, not merely today’s investors or officials.
The government has taken the right first step. Now it must prove that this is not another campaign of promises.
Uganda needs a land administration system where public land is identified before it is stolen, protected before it is degraded, and managed for the public good rather than recovered after the damage is done.