Principal Judge Seeks Judiciary-Parliament Collaboration to Tackle Land Disputes

What the report says

Lady Justice Jane Frances Abodo, Uganda’s Principal Judge, has called for closer cooperation between the Judiciary and Parliament to ease long-running land disputes and expand the use of mediation and other alternative dispute resolution methods. She made the remarks at the Supreme Court Building in Kampala while meeting the Parliamentary Committee on Lands, chaired by Edson Rugumayo, according to Nile Post.

The appeal came as the High Court Land Division reported a heavy backlog of about 6,557 pending cases. Nile Post said the division’s head, Lady Justice Jane Alividza, estimated that roughly 1,600 of those matters may involve fraud-related issues such as double titling and overlapping land interests, though she cautioned that the figures were preliminary. She also said the oldest case in the division dates to 1987.

Abodo said land conflicts often go beyond ownership and can affect families, businesses, livelihoods and community stability. She noted that concerns around multiple land titles and the temporary pause on routine issuance of Special Certificates of Title are issues of public interest that need careful handling. She added that cases reaching court should be dealt with fairly and quickly.

Alividza said delays are driven by interlocutory applications, appeals, complex evidence, multiple parties and increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes. She urged tighter verification in land administration and broader coordination among the Judiciary, Parliament, police, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and other institutions to improve land record integrity and reduce delays.