Kiwanula School Building Project Upate

July 24th, 2008
Currently we are dealing with the purchase of the land where the school will be built. Unfortunately, there is a set of cultural protocol that must be observed when buying and selling land. In the last year there have been several new land laws that have been put into place in Uganda because they have had so many complications in the past due to the way that land is allocated. The central region of the country is under the rule of the Buganda kingdom, which adds complications to land entitlement. The land that Bishop Asili is attempting to purchase is land that was owned originally by a Rwandan man. Before that man died he wrote a will allocating pieces of his land to his five Rwandan children, but actual land titles were never drawn up. Ugandan law states that one piece of land that is divided can be sold in pieces, but all owners of the original land must agree to sell off a piece. All of the siblings agreed to allow their brother to sell one of the pieces of land to a Ugandan cattle keeper. The only proof that the land was sold to the cattle keeper was a basic agreement signed by the local chairperson in the village because there was no land title to sign over to him. In the past this was a common practice in Uganda. When the genocide in Rwanda ended the brother who sold his land had no further business in Uganda and decided to move back to his homeland.
The cattle keeper has now decided to sell his land to the sisters at Bishop Asili. It has become common practice in Uganda to involve a lawyer in any land purchases or sales because there have been so many new laws put into place in the last few years. The lawyer advised the sisters to have a land title drawn up to avoid any future complications. If there is no land title then by law it’s possible for the five siblings to claim that the land belongs to their family and that no development or building should take place on that land. If the sisters have a land title signed over to them by the brother who originally owned the land then by law they will own the land and can use it for whatever purpose they choose. Unfortunately, that brother is in Rwanda and has been struggling to get a Visa into Uganda. The cattle keeper sent his wife, who is a Rwandan with dual citizenship as a result of their marriage to her homeland to discuss the issue with the original land seller and to speak with some contacts she has in the immigrations office to try to expedite his Visa. The lawyer must see that original heir in person and he and his four siblings must sign paperwork saying that he has agreed to allow a land title to be signed over to the sisters at Bishop Asili.
The latest update is that the wife of that cattle keeper is back in Uganda. She spent over a month in Rwanda trying to resolve the issue. She claims that the Rwandan man has been given a Visa to enter Uganda. She and the cattle keeper will inform us the moment he arrives. Unfortunately, the issue with the land has delayed the school building process, but it’s important that we remain patient and flexible in regards to cultural practices.
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