By Spy Uganda
The government has launched a nationwide exercise to identify, survey and digitally register all government-owned land in a major effort to safeguard public assets, curb land grabbing and strengthen land administration across Uganda.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in partnership with the Uganda Land Commission, will establish a Comprehensive Government Land Inventory (GLI), creating the country’s first centralized and continuously updated database of all public land.
Speaking during the official launch this week, State Minister for Lands Harriet Ntabazi said the programme is intended to protect government property, including schools, hospitals, roads, security installations, administrative offices and other public facilities, from encroachment, fraudulent titling and ownership disputes.
“This initiative is not simply about land registration. It is about protecting the assets that belong to the people of Uganda and ensuring that the land on which public institutions stand is properly identified, legally protected and preserved for present and future generations,” Ntabazi said.
According to the minister, many government institutions occupy land that has never been formally surveyed or registered, leaving it vulnerable to illegal occupation and competing ownership claims. She noted that the resulting disputes have delayed public projects and increased government spending on litigation and compensation.
Government estimates indicate that public land constitutes about 23 percent of Uganda’s total land area, but only 26.16 percent has been formally titled, exposing a significant portion to encroachment and fraudulent transactions.
Ntabazi also revealed that government land records are currently fragmented across several institutions, including the Uganda Land Commission, the Ministry of Lands, local governments and various ministries, making it difficult to establish an accurate inventory of public assets.
The new Government Land Inventory will consolidate these records into a single digital database containing detailed information on each parcel of public land, including its location, size, legal status, current use, level of development and any existing disputes or encroachment.
The programme will cover land under ministries, departments and agencies, local governments, public schools, hospitals, police stations, military installations, prisons, road reserves, railway corridors, airports, forests, wetlands, national parks, public markets and water infrastructure.
Ntabazi emphasized that the exercise is not intended to acquire private land or interfere with the rights of lawful landowners.
“This programme is focused solely on identifying and protecting land that already belongs to Government or is held in trust for the people of Uganda,” she said, adding that all activities will be conducted transparently and in accordance with the Constitution and existing land laws.
Implementation will be undertaken in phases, beginning with institutional preparations, stakeholder consultations and the review of existing land records. This will be followed by nationwide field verification involving surveyors, land officers, physical planners and local leaders to confirm boundaries and ownership records.
Untitled government land will then be surveyed and registered before being integrated into the National Land Information System to create a secure geo-referenced digital register of all public land.
The Uganda Land Commission will lead the implementation in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, district land offices, ministry zonal offices and local governments.
Ntabazi called on ministries, local governments, cultural and religious institutions, development partners, civil society organizations and the public to support the exercise.
“Protecting Government land is not the responsibility of one institution alone. It is a collective responsibility because these assets belong to all Ugandans,” she said.
The minister said the programme is expected to accelerate infrastructure development, reduce expenditure on compensation and court cases, improve public asset management, strengthen investor confidence and support Uganda’s long-term socio-economic transformation.
Priority implementation will focus on areas experiencing the highest levels of encroachment, strategic government investments and ownership disputes, with government pledging to provide regular public updates as the exercise progresses.
