Lawyers and members of parliament have questioned the legality of Lands minister Judith Nabakooba’s decision to suspend the issuance of special certificates of title for three months, arguing that an administrative directive cannot override a process provided for under the law.
Nabakooba suspended the issuance of the certificates on August 14, saying the pause, which runs until December, would allow the ministry of Lands to review the process and strengthen safeguards against fraud, double titling and other abuses.
While the minister says the temporary halt is necessary to protect the integrity of the land register, lawyers argue that the concerns do not give her the authority to suspend a statutory process established under the Registration of Titles Act.
Deo Kalikumutima, chief executive partner at Kalikumutima and Company Advocates, said the minister’s concerns were legitimate but that the suspension addresses the symptoms of deeper weaknesses in Uganda’s land administration system.
“The intention and the spirit of the Honourable Minister of Lands are okay. She has good intentions. However, we are setting out to treat a symptom. We have a bigger problem,” Kalikumutima said during a judicial service conversation with lawyer Elison Karuhanga.
Karuhanga, meanwhile, emphasised that a special certificate of title does not create a new interest in land but serves as a replacement for an original certificate.
“A special certificate of title is not a new title, okay? It is a replacement,” he said.
Legal basis questioned
Kalikumutima said Uganda operates under the Torrens system of land registration, under which a certificate of title serves as conclusive evidence of ownership.
He said Section 69 of the Registration of Titles Act provides a mechanism for a registered proprietor whose certificate has been lost, obliterated, damaged, destroyed or rendered unusable to obtain a replacement.
The process, he said, is subject to safeguards designed to establish whether the claim that a certificate has been lost is genuine. An applicant must make a statutory declaration explaining the circumstances under which the original certificate was lost and provide a police report before the land authorities conduct verification and public notification.
Because the declaration is made under oath, Kalikumutima said applicants who deliberately provide false information can face criminal consequences. He therefore questioned why the entire process should be suspended because some applicants may have abused it.
Kalikumutima said authorities should instead identify suspicious applications, investigate those involved and strengthen verification mechanisms. He argued that although the minister can issue guidelines within the law, she cannot use an administrative directive to take away rights created by legislation.
“To the best of my knowledge, the minister of Lands does not have the power to curtail the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, does not have the power to curtail the rights enshrined in the Registration of Titles Act,” he said.
“Intention’s good. Modus. Wrong.”
He warned that the suspension could have consequences beyond the land registry because certificates of title are routinely used in property transactions and as security for loans.
“The ministry of Lands facilitates trade. So the property markets are affected. Government revenue streams are affected. But most importantly, rights… I’m looking at innocent Ugandans who would like to trade but they cannot,” he said.
Law Society backs challenge
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has also challenged the directive. In an August 26 letter to Nabakooba, signed by its vice-president Anthony Asiimwe, the society acknowledged the concerns over fraudulent applications and double titling but questioned the legal basis for suspending the process.
The society said issuance of special certificates is a statutory function performed by the Registrar of Titles under the Registration of Titles Act.
“We are therefore concerned that the directive purports to suspend a statutory process without identifying the provision of law that confers upon the minister the power to do so,” Asiimwe wrote.
“A ministerial directive cannot oust, suspend or override a statutory provision. Administrative power must derive from and remain within the law.”
ULS said cases of fraudulent issuance should be dealt with through investigation and accountability rather than a blanket suspension.
“Where fraudulent special certificates have been issued, the appropriate response is to investigate the transactions, identify those responsible and take appropriate legal and disciplinary action,” the letter states.
The society advised Nabakooba to rescind the directive immediately.
It also said that if the existing law is inadequate, the ministry should pursue amendments through Parliament, while procedural weaknesses could be addressed through administrative guidelines that are consistent with the law.
Government defends suspension
The ministry of Lands, however, maintains that the suspension is intended to protect genuine landowners and restore confidence in the land registration system.
State minister for Lands Harriet Ntabazi told parliament that the ministry had received complaints from registered landowners, financial institutions, traditional institutions, administrators of estates and other stakeholders concerning the issuance of special certificates.
The complaints include allegations of double titling, overlapping interests, fraudulent statutory declarations, manipulation of succession processes and irregular dealings involving land belonging to deceased persons.
Ntabazi said the suspension does not abolish special certificates or permanently deny genuine landowners the right to obtain replacement certificates.
“The government therefore has a duty to ensure that the process through which a replacement certificate acquires the same legal efficacy as the original certificate is protected from fraud, abuse, administrative error and manipulation,” she said.
She added that special certificates are not inherently problematic; rather, the concern is the alleged abuse of the procedure through which they are obtained.
The government says the three-month suspension will allow the ministry to review the process, identify weaknesses and strengthen verification and due diligence before issuance resumes.
Nabakooba had earlier raised concern that some applicants were reporting certificates as lost when the original titles were allegedly still being held by moneylenders, advocates, financial institutions or relatives.
At a lands staff meeting on August 14, she warned officers against continuing to issue special certificates in cases involving competing claims.
“You have slept on your duty on the issue of special certificates. When you continue issuing them, I will send the police, and they will arrest you,” she said.
She cited cases in Kyengera, Wakiso, and Kabula in Lyantonde, where she said special certificates had allegedly been issued despite existing claims or titles.
“We need to sit and have a clear guideline on how to handle that issue. I receive distress calls from my bosses. You are putting special titles on existing titles, which makes my work very hard,” Nabakooba said.
Parliament weighs in
The dispute has also reached parliament, where speaker Jacob Markson Oboth-Oboth referred the government’s decision to the Lands Committee for scrutiny. The committee is already investigating allegations of fraud and double titling in the land sector.
Its chairperson, Ntoroko County MP Edson Rugumayo, supported the temporary suspension, saying fraud and land disputes continue to affect the sector while courts struggle with a backlog of land cases.
Shadow Lands minister Sumaya Nabawanuka said the concerns over fraud were legitimate but could be addressed administratively without suspending the statutory process.
Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi, however, defended the government’s position, arguing that the temporary halt does not amount to a suspension of the law and is intended to give the ministry time to correct weaknesses in the process.