MY WEEKEND INSIGHTS
18/02/2023

FRAUD ON THE RISE – KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON WHAT’S HAPPENINGS AT LAND’S REGISTRY

Months back, someone talked about deep infiltration of criminals in a certain department Y, branded them as “Kawukuumi” and vowed to fight them with his last drop of blood! It now seems the same weevil has started nibbling at land’s registry-the custodians of our real estate.

To say that land issues in Uganda are sophisticated would be an understatement! The acquisition of land in Uganda is capital intensive, and when you add that to the growing chain of “smart thieves” ..oh beloved Country! The sharks are all out to swallow your hard earned money in just a winkling of an eye. These organized crooks have always devised means of defrauding the public, and that’s prompted me (every time) to bring my A-game at every transaction. And as thus, i have been in the kitchen cooking, bearing sleepless nights just to add value and knowledge to a reader out there. I will soon be publishing a book exposing the most used tricks. Over the years, i have been doing presentations on different fora, written various articles on how to mitigate risk associated with real estate acquisition in Uganda. So what’s the new trick? Some have now decided to connive with some officials in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD) by creating multiple titles of different tenure system on the same piece of land. You’ll find land X has a private Mailo land title (M) registered in MLHUD and title (Y) as a leasehold registered on the same title or title (Z) as freehold. All titles are in registry’s office and transactions like title transfers, mortgage registration can be done on any of those titles.

I have so far had access to 4 cases (and counting) in Mukono District and another case in Kiboga District. These fraudsters are in bed with some officials in land’s registry to fleece the public and are mainly targeting financial institutions where the sharks are getting loans on those titles. I add my voice to the many who have perhaps already spoken out before me to request the following bodies to come out and condemn this act because sooner or later they will be directly affected, that’s if they aren’t affected yet viz; Uganda Bankers Association, Institution of Surveyors Uganda and Uganda Law Society.

And perhaps the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD) officials should be put to task to explain the cause of this kind of multiple titling. Else, the industry will soon get out of hand.

sabiiti10@gmail.com