Individual Corruption

The Land Registry lags behind in the implementation of the policy and law regarding land certificates, which has resulted in the customary owners not yet having obtained their appropriate certificates.

According to Freedom House 2010, property rights in Uganda remain insecure. Allegedly, there have been reports of fraudulent land titles, sometimes resulting from collusion with corrupt officials in the land registry offices. The Inspectorate of Government (IGG) 2007 also reports of numerous citizen complaints concerning rampant forgeries of land titles, unauthorised transfers, lifting of caveats, and general malpractices involving allegations of bribery and extortion from the public. The IGG identified that there is a public outcry concerning misuse of office, profiteering and bribery in the Land Registry and identified the causes as: 1) fraudulent land dealing or transaction including the issuing of fake Land Titles, the falsification and manipulation of existing records mostly involving staff of the Land Registry; 2) poor service delivery, which includes delays and poor public relations; 3) complaints about bribery and extortion from the public; 4) poor physical conditions of manual records; 5) poor filing system leading to loss/misplacement of records which makes retrieval of files difficult; 6) poor and inadequate storage/archival facilities; and 7) inadequate staff.

Business Corruption

According to Uganda Debt Network Policy Review Newsletter Jul-Aug 2007, there has been a tremendous increase of land transactions which has given rise to unregulated and unregistered land dealers who could be a source of forgeries and fraudulent transactions.

According to the US Department of State 2010, Uganda's land laws are complex, while the land registry is non-transparent, and some foreign companies have encountered difficulty in obtaining land. The same source further reports that there are more than 8,000 fake land titles in Uganda, and that the Private Sector Foundation (PSF), a private business advocacy group, has received a USD 70 million credit from the World Bank and is now in the process of creating a new land registry system by 2012.

Political Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2007, land grabbing practices involving cabinet ministers, businesspeople and politicians is common. Schools and disadvantaged people report having lost their lands to corrupt officials who have then sold these properties to wealthy individuals. The former minister of local government in Kampala, Kahinda Otafiire, has been implicated in almost every land scandal.

The State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Vincent Nyanzi, wants the offices of the Administrator General and that of the Office of titles in the lands ministry investigated over corruption and mismanagement, according to a December 2009 article by AllAfrica. The minister explained that many people have been evicted without due compensation and on short notice, which is against the law. Moreover, Nyanzi revealed that, at one time, a land title changed ownership to three people in three minutes, which could not be in accordance with due process of law.

In a 2010 news article by AllAfrica, President Museveni stated at the National Land Policy Conference in May 2010 that he had received a report with a list of names of corrupt land officials, and he warned them if they do not stop extorting bribes from the public over land titles, they will be arrested. President Museveni also stated that the collapse of the country’s land system had been caused by corruption, unethical practices, false titles, complaints and abuse by different agencies.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- It takes 13 procedures to register property over an average of 77 days and at a cost of 3.2% of the property value.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the protection of property rights in Uganda, including financial assets, a score of 3.8 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very weak' and 7 'very strong')

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 47% of the households surveyed who had contact with land services in 2009 reported to have paid a bribe.

Transparency International: East Africa Bribery Index 2010:
- Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is ranked as the ninth most corrupt institution in Uganda, out of 28 institutions in the country.

- The average size of bribe reported as paid by a household respondent is UGX 133,055.

- Of all the bribes reportedly paid by the household respondents, 0.7% was paid to the Ministry of Lands, Housing  and Urban Development.