In a committee room at Parliament, a proposal was made that would undo one of the biggest compromises in Uganda’s 1995 Constitution.
State Minister for Urban Development, Margaret Muhanga, told the Lands Committee that Uganda should abolish individual ownership of land. Specifically, she called for the Mailo tenure system to be scrapped. Her reason was simple and direct: land in private hands is slowing down roads, schools, hospitals, and other public projects.
Her alternative was even more sweeping. Put all land under government.
“It was wrong for the 1995 Constitution to entrust land in the hands of Ugandans,” Muhanga said. “If government owned all land, we would not have these problems of acquisition and compensation.”
The room got quiet. Then the MPs started talking.
Why The Minister Wants Change
If you work in government, you know the frustration she’s talking about.
Try to build a road in Wakiso and you meet 40 landlords, 200 tenants, and 10 lawyers. Try to expand a hospital in Mbarara and the valuation comes back 3 times higher than budget. Try to put a water pipe in Kibuye and someone produces a Mailo title from 1900.
Mailo land is unique to Buganda, but its problems are national. Created under the 1900 Buganda Agreement, Mailo created two classes on the same piece of land: the landlord who owns the title, and the bibanja holder who has occupied and used the land for generations.
For citizens, it means insecurity. For government, that means double negotiations. For developers, it means delays.
Muhanga’s argument is about efficiency. One owner. One decision maker. One signature. Government acquires, government builds, government moves on. In her view, the 1995 decision to vest land in citizens was idealistic, but impractical for a country that needs infrastructure now.
Why MPs Hit The Brakes
The committee didn’t reject her. But they didn’t clap either.
The pushback was immediate and it came from both sides of the aisle.
“Land is not just an economic asset,” one MP said. “It is identity, history, and security. You cannot legislate that away in one meeting.”
The MPs raised three problems that have haunted Uganda for 30 years:
1. Compensation
Government already struggles to pay people fairly and on time for land it acquires today. If government owns all land, who compensates who when a project affects your home? The fear is that citizens would go from landlords to tenants of the state, with even less bargaining power.
2. Valuation
Who decides what land is worth? Right now the fights are between government valuers and private owners. If government is both the owner and the buyer, MPs asked, who protects the citizen?
3. Trust
Ugandans fought hard in the 1990s to have land returned to individuals after years of state control. To reverse that now, MPs said, government must first prove it can manage the land it already has. Idle public land, land grabbing by officials, and double allocations were all mentioned.
The message was clear: fix the current system before you replace it.
What Mailo Actually Is, And Why It Hurts
To understand the fight, you have to understand Mailo.
Under Mailo, one person holds the title. But thousands live on the land as lawful or bona fide occupants. The law says they cannot be evicted without compensation. The landlord says they cannot develop without consent.
The result is stalemate.
For an ordinary Ugandan in Busiro or Kyaggwe, it means you can farm on land for 50 years and still not get a title. For an investor, it means a project can be held up for a decade in court. For government, it means every kilometer of tarmac comes with a lawsuit.
That is the problem Muhanga wants to solve. Her solution is to remove the landlord entirely.
The Deeper Question: Who Should Own Uganda?
This is not really about Mailo. This is about a question Uganda has never fully answered: who owns the country?
The 1995 answer: The people. Land belongs to citizens, families, and communities. Government is just a trustee. That was meant to protect people from a repeat of the 1970s when the state took whatever it wanted.
The 2026 argument: The state. If Uganda is to industrialize, build cities, and attract investors, land must move fast. And land only moves fast when one entity controls it.
Both arguments have merit. Both have dangers.
If land is fully in citizen hands, development is slow and expensive. If land is fully in government hands, abuse is easy and fast. We have seen both movies before.
What Happens In Villages If This Passes
Forget Parliament for a minute. Think about an ordinary home.
In Mukono, a grandmother has lived on bibanja for 40 years. She has no title but she has coffee and children. Under Mailo, she is protected by law. Under full government ownership, what is she? A licensee? A tenant?
In Lira, a young man saves for 5 years to buy a small plot. He wants security so his kids can inherit it. If all land is government land, does he own anything or just lease it from the state for 49 years?
That is why MPs are nervous. People don’t protest about GDP. They protest when they feel their home is not theirs.
The Middle Ground No One Is Saying Out Loud
Almost no one in that committee wants the current chaos to continue. And almost no one wants 1972 back.
So where is the middle?
Experts who have worked on land for years keep saying the same three things:
1. Fix compensation first. Pay people on time, at market rate, before you take the land. Build trust.
2. Formalize bibanja. Give the people on Mailo real, bankable, inheritable rights without necessarily taking the landlord’s title away.
3. Digitize and audit all public land. Before government asks for more, show Ugandans you can manage what you already have.
None of that requires abolishing private ownership. All of it requires political will.
Final Word
Minister Muhanga is not wrong that land is slowing Uganda down. Every engineer, every district planner, every investor will tell you that.
But MPs are also not wrong that land is the one thing Ugandans will fight for. You can change tax law in a week. You cannot change how people feel about their shamba.
The 1995 Constitution made a bet: that Ugandans could own land and still develop. 30 years later, that bet is being tested.
Abolishing Mailo and putting all land under government would be the biggest land policy shift since independence. It would solve some problems and create new ones.
For now, Parliament has not agreed. The conversation, however, has started again. And this time it’s not in academic papers. It’s in the committee that writes the laws.
Because in Uganda, development will always run into one question: whose land is this?
