NATIONAL
The Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development Hon. Judith Nabakooba has today officially opened the National Land Policy Platform.
The three-day event, themed “Assessing the Contribution of the National Land
Policy to the Optimal Use and Management of Uganda’s Land Resources,” will commence next week starting on Tuesday 31st to 2nd of Nov 2023 at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
The National Land Policy (NLP), approved by Cabinet in February, 2013, has been a cornerstone in shaping Uganda’s land management and utilization strategies.
It seeks to ensure the efficient, equitable, and optimal utilization of Uganda’s land
and land-based resources to reduce poverty, create wealth, and promote overall socio-economic development.
From next week, stakeholders including officials from the Land’s ministry and
other government agencies, civil society organizations, Development Partners,
political leaders, and the academia among others will review and evaluate the decade-long implementation of the Land Policy with the view of weighing its
success and shortfalls and charting the way forward in the next implementation
phase.
Speaking at the launch of the platform, Minister Nabakooba, highlighted the
significance of the National Land Policy and the need for its review after a decade of implementation.
“The National Land Policy has
played a pivotal role in guiding
land-related decisions and actions in
Uganda. This platform represents
an opportunity to evaluate its impact
and identify areas for improvement to
better serve our nation’s needs,” said
the minister.
On her part, the Lands Ministry
Permanent Secretary, Dorcas Okalany,
emphasized the purpose of this
review, saying, “The review of the
National Land Policy is essential to
determine whether it has achieved its
intended objectives. It also allows us
to address any challenges that have
emerged and ensure that we adapt to
new developments and issues inland
management. “
Okalany listed the thematic areas that
the Policy had addressed which
included: The Constitutional and legal
framework; the land tenure
framework; the land rights
administration framework; the land
use and land management
framework; the regional and
international framework; and the
Implementation framework.
She added that the platform will
serve to present the results of the
NLP Impact Evaluation Study and
assessment of the implementation
of the NLP by stakeholders, and
sharing emerging issues and practices
for inclusion.
The Policy review will take place
from 31st October to 2nd November,
2023 at Hotel Africana.
Hon Nabakooba encouraged
participants including experts,
stakeholders, actors inland
administration, management, and
governance, and citizens to freely
and openly engage in the platform’s
discussions.
“We want to hear from those who
have worked on the ground and the
beneficiaries of these land
interventions in the National Land
Policy, and learn from their
experiences in order to chart a
realistic way forward that will shape
the future of land management in
Uganda,” she added.
