A questão da posse da terra e da governança é um dos desafios mais complexos e diversificados que os(as) formuladores(as) de políticas e profissionais da área de desenvolvimento enfrentam. Isso é especialmente verdadeiro quando se trata de atingir os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS), pois há mais de uma dúzia de indicadores relacionados à terra distribuídos em cinco objetivos dos ODS, com dados mantidos por diferentes agências de custódia.

The land sector is increasingly being cited as a corruption hub. Many countries across the globe are grappling with land-related corruption that dates to the colonial years and which have metamorphosed into historical injustices and continue to be a source of conflict and violation of basic human rights. Cases of land grabbing, compensation-less expropriation, gender-based discrimination in accessing and ownership of land and related resources, illegal mining deals, bribing to access land administration services among others are not new in the lands sector.

“This plot is not for sale” are the six words you will find, marked on a lot of properties and plots of land in Uganda. The words are meant to ward off quack land or property brokers and conmen. Most of the cases handled in courts in Uganda, and Kampala in particular, are fraud-related cases (like selling land while the true owners are away using counterfeit titles) and land transaction fraud (when fake land titles are obtained and sadly some officers in the land registry are involved).