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The Valuation Bill will soon be tabled before Cabinet for approval according to Lands Minister Hon Judith Nabakooba.
“Last week we were reviewing the bill on valuation; we also went through the standards of valuation and we hope that very soon we shall table the same to the cabinet for approval and finally it will make its way to parliament,” said the Minister on Tuesday.
“Accuracy and consistency of valuation are key in our case. We are also looking at having a database but also having acceptable margins.”
Hon Nabakooba was speaking at the opening of the 3-day review of the National Land Policy (NLP) at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
The NLP, having been under implementation for the past 10 years, the Lands Ministry recently commissioned a study to review its performance as per its stated objectives.
The study, whose findings were presented today at the review, was undertaken by a team of researchers including Margaret A. Rugadya (Ph.D.) Doreen Kobusingye (Ph.D.) Eddie Nsamba-Gayiiya, Herbert Kamusiime and Kajumba Christine.
Minister Nabakooba in her speech, highlighted some of the policy concerns raised in the study, among them the worsening land fragmentation in the country.
“There is excessive land fragmentation in Uganda…even in rural areas. In our discussion, we need to suggest what reforms and laws can we put in place to address this,” she said.
“People used to have big chunks of land, but currently even in the rural setting, you find somebody sitting on a 50x50 or 100x50 yet we used to think in the villages it is where we have big land and where massive production can be done.”
Margret Rugadya while presenting the findings, pointed out the need for further studies to be done to assess fragmentation and impacts, and for the government to come up with a policy of non-fragmentation of Agricultural land among family members in all agro-ecological zones.
The 10-year implementation of the NLP has been supported largely by funding from development partners led by the German Government through GIZ and the European Union.
Christine Ketter Team Leader of the GIZ Responsible Land Police in Uganda (RELAPU) commended the Lands Ministry for the positive outcomes that have come out of the Police since 2013.
“It has been a timely intervention and a lot has been achieved in the last 10 years,” she said.
“In the meantime, we can learn from the experience that we have seen and I hope that in the next three days, inspiration and motivation to carry forward our work.”