The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is set to avail 10,000 land titles to Hoima residents at a reduced cost to combat the escalating land-grabbing cases in the district.
The project that is funded by the World Bank will benefit residents in the various sub-counties in the district, including Kabaale, Buraru, Kyabigambire, Kitoba and Buseruka, among others.
The titles will be availed to the local people at reduced cost, not exceeding 85,000 shillings, under the Systematic Land Adjudication and Certification (SLAAC) being implemented by the Ministry of Lands.
Sam Mayanja, the Lands State Minister, explains that all arrangements have been made to ensure that residents in the district are provided with land titles. He says the initiative would help residents protect their land from grabbers and speculators.
He explains that soon a team from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development will be in the district to sensitise leaders and residents about how the issuance of the titles will be conducted.
Pius Wakabi, the Bugahya County Member of Parliament, explains that the initiative will reduce the escalating land grabbing and evictions by speculators and other tycoons who have invaded the district, putting residents under tension.
Patrick Musinguzi, a resident of Ndaragi village in Kisukuma sub-county, explains that if implemented, the initiative will be a big step towards fighting land grabbers in the district.
Joseph Kyamanywa, a resident of Buhirigi village in Bombo sub-county, says, the titles, if availed, will enable people to settle peacefully on their land.
In 2024, the government, through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, availed 22,000 land titles to Kikuube residents at a reduced cost to combat the escalating land grabbing cases in the district.
The initiative funded by the World Bank is being implemented in the sub-counties of Kizirafumbi, Bugambe, Buhimba, Kyangwali, Kabwoya and Kikuube town council benefit from the project.
Several families have been brutally and forcefully evicted from their ancestral land, while several others are on the verge of being evicted in Hoima and other parts of the Bunyoro sub-region by land grabbers who have fraudulently acquired titles.
Land grabbing and evictions in the Bunyoro sub-region have become rampant ever since the discovery of oil and gas, with many speculators and grabbers invading the region.