Property
Four tenure systems recognised by the constitution
Article 237 vests land in the citizens and recognises four tenure systems: customary, freehold, mailo and leasehold. Mailo is unique to Uganda, a quasi-freehold created by the 1900 Buganda Agreement, and the position of tenants on mailo land is the central land-law problem.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — District land tribunals and the Land Division of the High Court; district land boards administer allocation.
- Deadline — Certificate of customary ownership: issued by the district land board on application
- Deadline — Lawful and bona fide occupants: protected under the Land Act with security of occupancy
- Deadline — Non-citizen: may hold leasehold only, up to 99 years
Governing law
- Constitution of Uganda, article 237 — four tenure systems
- Land Act, 1998Cap 227
- Land Acquisition ActCap 226
In practice
Mailo tenure is the distinctive Ugandan institution: land granted to Buganda notables in 1900 in perpetuity, on which peasant occupants have lived for generations. The Land Act 1998 protected those occupants as lawful or bona fide occupants with security of tenure, creating a divided ownership that neither registered proprietor nor occupant can unilaterally resolve — the source of most Ugandan land litigation.