Property mogul Sudhir Ruparelia has lauded President Yoweri Museveni for signing the Landlord and Tenant Bill into law.

It was revealed by the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, that President Museveni assented to the Landlord and Tenants Bill 2021 after a meeting at State House in Entebbe yesterday morning.

The Bill passed regulates the relationship between landlords and tenants, reforms and consolidates the law relating to letting of premises, provides for the responsibilities of landlords and tenants in respect to the letting of premises.

The landlords welcomed the new law saying it will streamline their relationship with tenants with each party aware of its responsibility.

Sudhir lauded President Museveni for signing the bill into law saying “it will finally bring sanity into the sector.”

“It will check landlords who were not respecting the law and their tenants. Most landlords do not give tenants agreements. We could be the only ones who have consistently given all our tenants agreements for more than 10 years,” Sudhir said.

“The law protects both tenants and landlords. The tenants will now know their rights. It will reduce the court cases between the two parties.”

The new law will also see a restriction of increment on rent being put to not more than 10 per cent annually.

Although the landlords are happy with the provision of increasing rent by 10 per cent annually, they expressed concern over the provision that bars them from forcibly evicting tenants who fail to pay rent.

Parliament also passed a provision that the currency of transaction between landlord and tenant shall be in Uganda Shillings.

The new law will also see penalties for landlords who are found liable of unlawfully evicting their tenants. This conditions the landlord to compensate a tenant three months equivalent of rent dues.

Furthermore, the law proposes that a notice for increment of rent should be issued 60 days before its implementation.

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Officials at the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) have been accused of asking for bribes in order to pay out compensation for land.

Geoffrey Mugisa one of the registered proprietors and claimants of the Shs10.6 billion supplementary budget allocated to facilitate the land owners who sold their land to the government through the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) said in order to process his payments, officials from ULC asked him for a bribe.

Mugisa on Wednesday, 08 June 2022 appeared before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) chaired by Hon Joel Ssenyonyi.

The committee is investigating the irregular payment of Shs10.6 billion to six land owners. The landowners are Stephen Nagenda, Twaha Lwakaana, Kosia Rwabukurukuru, Namuli Natalia, Julius Busulwa and owners of the Ndeeba Church and Lusanja land.

When he was tasked by the committee to explain how he got compensated and how he got his land of 208 hectares, Mugisa said that the process was tedious and frustrating and marred with calls for bribes.

Mugisa said that the Land Commission demanded 50 per cent of the Shs1.544 billion he was supposed to get from the sale of his land.

For the land valued at Shs1.544billion, Mugisa got an advance payment of Shs50 million in 2016 and the outstanding balance of over Shs1.4 billion in 2021 for his 208 hectares of land.

“Someone called Michael Obongomin called me and said I would not get my money just like that. At first, he asked for 20 per cent and then later 50 per cent of the total amount I was supposed to receive for my land,” Mugisa said.

Mugisa said he didn’t bow to pressure but his compensation took long.

Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi tasked Mugisa to provide evidence of the phone number and details of the agent seeking the bribe, his account number where the money was paid and his phone number.

The committee also tasked Mugisa to return with a written consent from his family who gave him the land and copy of the title among others.

Mugisa also claimed that his land was occupied by squatters and not the tenants by occupancy according to the report made by ULC before acquisition of the land.

The committee put Mugisa under oath as he failed to present documentation on how he got the land title, alongside the inconsistencies in his defence statements.

He, for instance, told the committee that the land was given to him as a young boy but the committee was shocked to find out that with nine other brothers, Mugisa inherited half of the family’s 500 hectares.

Tororo North county MP, Hon. Geoffrey Ekanya questioned the credibility of acquisition of the land.

“How sure are you that no one will come to claim the land as there is no direct evidence to show the real ownership of the land,” Ekanya asked.

Ssenyonyi has given Mugisa till Friday to present the necessary documentation.

The committee is also in the hunt for former ULC secretary and accountant for her role in the irregularities at the commission.

According to Ssenyonyi, Imaryo fled the country as soon as the investigations begun.

Ssenyonyi said that Imaryo had paid some monies before verification.

“She was being guarded by the military and she left through Nairobi. The Interpol has however, been involved and she will be gotten soon,” Ssenyonyi said.

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Amnesty International has urged the Ugandan authorities to stop arresting politicians and activists solely for protesting the high cost of living and respect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“The arrest and detention of these activists amounts to intimidation and harassment. This is a clear attempt by the Ugandan authorities to suppress freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa said.

Police arrested the six women on 30 May 2022 at Mulago roundabout in Kampala while they held placards protesting inflation, high prices of essential goods and the continued detention of Kizza Besigye, the leader of the political pressure group People’s Front for Transition.

“The arrest and detention of activists amounts to intimidation and harassment. This is a clear attempt by the Ugandan authorities to suppress freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

“These six activists must be immediately released. Instead of criminalizing public criticism of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, the Ugandan authorities should take steps to mitigate the impact of rising food costs on those who can least afford it.”

The six women include MP Anna Adeke, Deputy Mayor of Kampala Doreen Nyanjura and four women activists, Wokuri Mudanda, Susan Nanyojo, Mariam Kizito and Alice Amony. They were charged with inciting violence and unlawful assembly and remanded at Luzira Prison in Kampala.  Yesterday, the group was granted bail.

The protests were sparked by rising inflation, which grew from 2.7 per cent in January 2022 to 6.3 per cent in May 2022 and increased the cost of essential consumer goods. Food inflation disproportionately impacts people living in poverty, who spend a greater percentage of their income on food. While inflation is currently a global problem, governments have an obligation to ensure the right to sufficient and adequate access to food, including through international assistance. The arrested politicians and activists had criticized the Ugandan government’s response to rising food costs.

Ugandan police arrested Kizza Besigye at Arua Park in Kampala on 23 May, where he was addressing people in one of a series of protests about the economic situation.

On 12 May, the police had placed him under a “preventive arrest” which the Ugandan authorities use to preemptively prevent an offence.

On 25 May, Besigye was charged with incitement to violence in Buganda Road Court and granted a Shs 30 million (about USD 8,100) cash bail. He objected to this on the grounds that it was excessive and instructed his lawyers to apply for a review of the bail conditions. On 6 June, the High Court reduced the cash bail to Shs 3,000,000 (about USD 810).

“The Ugandan authorities must stop using preventive detention and criminal charges to deter people from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The Constitution of Uganda obliges the state to ensure that Ugandans are able to petition the government, exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and to enjoy decent shelter, health and food security,” said Deprose Muchena.

“By arresting people who are concerned about the high cost of living, the Ugandan authorities risk seeming disconnected from the everyday reality of those living in poverty, including people who cannot afford to put a meal on the table.”

“By arresting people who are concerned about the high cost of living, the Ugandan authorities risk seeming disconnected from the everyday reality of those living in poverty, including people who cannot afford to put a meal on the table,” he added.

Protests continue to be criminalized in Uganda with no legal basis even after the country’s Constitutional Court declared Section 8 of the Public Order Management unconstitutional. It was thought that nullifying parts of the law would limit the power held by the Inspector General of Police to arbitrarily prevent or stop public gatherings and crack down on protests.

The state uses Section 83 of the Penal Code Act to charge people for incitement to violence to deter them from protesting.

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