Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995
Land ownership.
- Jurisdiction
- Uganda
- Provision
- 237
- Source language
- English
- Recorded status
- in force
More details
- Recorded status
- in force
Provision text
Official source(1) Land in Uganda belongs to the citizens of Uganda and shall vest
in them in accordance with the land tenure systems provided for in this
Constitution.
(2) Notwithstanding clause (1) of this article—
(a) the Government or a local government may, subject to article 26
of this Constitution, acquire land in the public interest; and the
conditions governing such acquisition shall be as prescribed by
Parliament;
(b) the Government or a local government as determined by
Parliament by law shall hold in trust for the people and protect
natural lakes, rivers, wetlands, forest reserves, game reserves,
national parks and any land to be reserved for ecological and
touristic purposes for the common good of all citizens;
(c) noncitizens may acquire leases in land in accordance with the
laws prescribed by Parliament, and the laws so prescribed shall
define a noncitizen for the purposes of this paragraph.
(3) Land in Uganda shall be owned in accordance with the following
land tenure systems—
(a) customary;
(b) freehold;
(c) mailo; and
(d) leasehold.
(4) On the coming into force of this Constitution—
(a) all Uganda citizens owning land under customary tenure may
acquire certificates of ownership in a manner prescribed by
Parliament; and
(b) land under customary tenure may be converted to freehold land
ownership by registration.
(5) Any lease which was granted to a Uganda citizen out of public
land may be converted into freehold in accordance with a law which shall be
made by Parliament.
(6) For the purposes of clause (5) of this article, “public land”
includes statutory leases to urban authorities.
(7) Parliament shall make laws to enable urban authorities to enforce
and to implement planning and development.
(8) Upon the coming into force of this Constitution and until
Parliament enacts an appropriate law under clause (9) of this article, the
lawful or bonafide occupants of mailo land, freehold or leasehold land shall
enjoy security of occupancy on the land.
(9) Within two years after the first sitting of Parliament elected under
this Constitution, Parliament shall enact a law—
(a) regulating the relationship between the lawful or bonafide
occupants of land referred to in clause (8) of this article and the
registered owners of that land;
(b) providing for the acquisition of registrable interest in the land by
the occupant.
Uganda Land Commission.
Source record
Source and verification
Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 · judiciary.go.ug · Retrieved 17 August 2026.
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