6th Land Awareness week 2022 set to raise awareness on land management and environment conservation in South Western Uganda.
Drake Nyamugabwa
Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) in partnership with Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, District Local Government, Civil Society Organizations among other have are set to hold the 6th Land Awareness Week from 21st -26th August 2022 held in 5 districts in South Western Uganda including Kabale, Rubanda, Rukiga,Kisoro, and Kanungu aimed at enhancing the capacity of South Western communities on land management and environment conservation issues.
The Land Awareness week will have other activities as part of the week including district planning meetings, community sensitization, documentation of land issues among other activities.
The Country Coordinator PELUM Josephine Akia Luyimbazi in above picture, during the Land Awareness week launch held at their office In Ntinda said that the Land Awareness Week will collect information on land issues land rights in South Western Uganda to have a collective voice to address effective land management to enhance customary land to boost land production for indigenous communities in South Western Uganda.
“Most of the land in South Western Uganda is under customary land ownership. There was a need to raise awareness on land management to increase production and productivity of land and share land right for indigenous communities” she said
She highlighted that the event will have various activities including community meetings, mobile legal clinics, community awareness talks shows on media channels, music exhibition, tree , petitions, among others.
The Spokesperson of Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Denis Obua, above said that whereas most of the land in Uganda is not not registered there is need to raise awareness through avenues like through land awareness week to ensure citizens get knowledge and inform pertaining land ownership, protection of land, documentation among other issues in order to settle people on land for wealth creation
“The Land Awareness week is important for citizens to address their outcry on land issues like illegal documentation, land protection, land registration in order to pick up issues to dwell on and settle people on land for generating wealth through production” he said
He called upon citizens to register and document their land to avoid land evictions and grabbing.
“If you don’t have legal land documentation you are probe to grabbing because the buyers register the land and become legal owners” he said
He added that the Land fund meant for buying land and compensation is under review currently but said that land wrangles are now being resolved by using geographical codes and sustainable use of wet lands without resorting to rudimental methods.
The theme of the Land Awareness week is: “Promoting Land rights for inclusive and sustainable development
The concept of the Land Awareness week is an innovation of the Ministry of Lands, housing and urban development, and civil society organisation including PELUM, ESAFF, Land Net among others working on land rights.
· It was first held in 2017 in Amuru, then Teso region, Karamoja, west Nile and central.
