The government has taken a significant step to curb land grabbing and conflicts across the country by resolving to register all land surveyors, both private and government staff.
According to Ms Judith Nabakoba, Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, the move aims to empower the Surveyors Registration Board (SRB) to ensure that no surveyor is left behind.
“As we all know that issues of land conflicts are at the highest peak in Uganda, the cabinet recently resolved that all land surveyors be registered as they also contribute to the chaos,” Ms Nabakoba explained. “We are going to empower the Surveyors Registration Board (SRB) to start the process, to critically look at the requirements of surveyors before being confirmed as registered.”
The minister revealed that the registration process will begin with government surveyors and then move to private surveyors.
“Many people tend to use unregistered surveyors because they are somehow cheap, which in the end brings a lot of chaos and unending wrangles on land,” she added. “By doing so, we shall be ensured of reshaping the entire profession.”
Ms Nabakoba emphasized that land conflicts usually stem from unlicensed surveyors who capture wrong coordinates, ending up creating conflicts. To operate anywhere in the country, surveyors will be required to present their academic qualifications and be members of a professional body.
The decisive move will phase out unqualified individuals who pose as surveyors and steal people’s land. The SRB was established under the Surveyors’ Registration Act, Cap 275, to regulate and control the profession of surveyors and the activities of registered surveyors within Uganda.
The conference, attended by scholars, land professionals, and policymakers from African countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and South Africa, aimed to shape the future of land governance in Africa. Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, reaffirmed the university’s commitment to research, innovation, and regional cooperation in land governance.
“As the world continues to face complex challenges ranging from land disputes, rapid urbanization, climate change, and environmental degradation, it is clear that geospatial science and technology hold immense potential to guide us toward more sustainable, inclusive, and evidence-based decision-making,” Prof Nawangwe said.
In her keynote address, Dr Upendo Matatotola, the Minister of Lands, Housing, and Human Settlements Development, Tanzania, noted that innovation in land administration is not a luxury but a necessity. She called on governments to finance innovation to fix land governance for equity, prosperity, and sustainable development.
“To truly harness innovation, we must commit to regional collaboration, policy alignment, and knowledge sharing,” Dr Matatotola explained.
“We also need to embrace low-cost, scalable technologies: Tools like mobile GPS and cloud-based platforms can revolutionize rural land certification and enhance tenure security, and ensure inclusivity by paying special attention to women, pastoralists, and informal settlers to ensure innovations do not deepen exclusion.”
Source: Monitor
