The Government in 2017 put in place Guidelines for Compensation Assessment under Land Acquisition Act.

These proposals are for reform of laws relating to land acquisition by the Government, and they include the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act (Cap 226) in order to bring it into conformity with Article 26 of the Constitution of Uganda. This has remained a big concern among the citizens who lack clarity and specificity on how to deal with land acquisition issues.

To most people, acquiring land in Uganda comes with a justified dread of having to navigate a rather tenuous sea of uncertainty regarding what rules they will have to play by, both during and after acquiring property.

The government has been paying billions of shillings in compensation for its own land in questionable payouts by the National Lands Commission.

The compensation, which involves the acquisition of land for public utilities, is allegedly a cash cow for well-connected individuals who fleece taxpayers.

Two years ago, the government spent Sh1.5 billion of taxpayers’ money to acquire the Ruaraka land that later turned out to belong to the public.

He had heard from around the town that there was an elderly but vibrant woman selling a piece of her land in Nkozi, close to Uganda Martyrs University.

At the time, Nkozi did not have the status and population it does now. In 2003, a young Vincent Agaba acquired the land.

“A quarter of an acre at Shs3m,” he says.  Agaba was neither employed nor earning from any other source. It was from his pocket money that he saved money to acquire the sizeable land.

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has asked the National Land Commission to assist in repossessing land allocated illegally to senior civil servants.

Oparanya said that prime plots were allocated to former and current civil servants, politicians and influential businessmen who are demanding compensation for the land.

"We are battling cases where senior public officers allocated plots fraudulently are demanding compensation. This is an area where we require NLC's intervention because the plots are lying idle," Governor Oparanya said.

Rhino Fund Uganda (RFU) has finally left the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Nakitoma, Nakasongola District.

The organization has been embroiled in a misunderstanding with Capt. Charles Roy, the owner of the land where rhinos are being bred which forced the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to take over the sanctuary. The UWA says that the move was for the rhinos’ safety.

A mineral water company Hema Beverages has run to court in a case in which it seeks to recover Shs216m from a real estate cum land seller.

Hema Beverages claims it was defrauded in a land deal after it later discovered that the land they had paid for had already been sold.  

Hundreds of families who were left homeless after the demolition of houses in Kinango Sub-county, Kwale County on Friday last week, are now appealing to the government to help them repossess their land from a private developer.

The 200 families’ from Mwamdudu in Bonje area are accusing a private developer of colluding with top government officials and other unscrupulous individuals to grab their ancestral land.

Construction of the Lokichar to Lamu crude oil pipeline whose implementation was set for 2020 will be delayed until the end of the year due to land acquisition issues.

The 820km pipeline, which is a key component of the Sh2.5 trillion Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lappset) corridor project, is facing challenges related to land compensation.

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The process of land acquisition for the laying of the 824-km Lokichar-Lamu Oil Pipeline, also known as the Kenya Crude Oil Pipeline, is expected to be completed in December.

Petroleum and Mining CS John Munyes has said through the Lapsset and the National Land Commission, the government is engaging communities in six counties to give up their land.

“That is the condition. Until we get the land and then the private sector comes in and the government puts money to lay the pipeline. We will have to wait,” said the CS.