District Land Boards in Uganda

The Composition of District Boards

The board has a minimum of five members, with a representative from at least each county. One third of its members must be women. The upper limit of the board members is not specified. However, this composition of the boards is governed by the amount of work and resources available.

Qualifications by Members of District Land Boards:

The following people do not qualify to be members of the Land Boards:
(i)    Persons less than 18 years,
(ii)    Persons of unsound mind,
(iii)    Members of parliament,
(iv)    Persons convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, or persons declared bankrupt

Appointment of the District Land Boards:

They are appointed by the district council and approved by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

Tenure of office:

The members shall hold office for a period of 5 years, and can be re-appointed to serve for 5 more years only.

Removal:

The district council shall remove a member from office once the executive recommends. However, the following will lead to such an act:

Duties of District Land Boards:

In performing their duties, DLBs must follow the provisions of the Constitution, Land Act and the land Regulations, on the ownership and management of land. The national and district polices and the customs or guiding principles of an area have to be born in mind. The duties include:
(i) Hold and allocate land in the district that does not belong to any person or authority,
(ii) Facilitate the registration and transfer of interests in land,
(iii) Cause surveys, plans, maps, drawings and estimates to be made,
(iv) Compile and maintain a list of compensations payable in respect to crops, building of a non-permanent nature after consulting the technical officers of the district,
(v) Review every year the list of compensation rates, referred to in paragraph (e) of subsection (1),
(i)    She or he misses 6 meetings consecutively without any sound reasons;
(ii)    Misconduct involving; corruption, influence paddling;
(iii)    Inability to perform his/her functions resulting from infirmity of body or mind;
(iv)    Incompetence or lack of capacity, ability or qualifications to perform the duties;
(v)    Once their term of office expires

District Land Board Status

Powers of the District Land Boards:

In performing its duties, the District Land Boards are independent of any person or authority. They cannot be controlled, directed, used or influenced. DLBs are independent of the Uganda Land Commission. This independence gives them the powers to do any of the following:-

• acquire by purchase or otherwise, rights or interests in land and easements;
• erect, alter, enlarge, improve or demolish any building or other erections on any land held by it;
• sell, lease or otherwise deal with the land held by the Board; and
  do and perform all such other acts, matters and things as may be necessary for or incidental to the exercise of those powers and the performance of the above functions.

Secretary District Land Board/ Senior Assistant Secretary

This is a person appointed by the district service commission. Therefore, they are public officers. They are responsible for:-

i. Undertaking administrative duties to facilitate the effective operation of the District Land Board;
ii. Processing lease application documents for submission to the Land Board;
iii. Preparing lease offer advertisements for the allocation of newly gazette land;
iv. Recording minutes of the meetings of the District Land Board;
v. Communicating the decisions of the Board to the relevant parties and authorities;
vi. Keeping safe custody of records of the Land Board;
vii. Providing technical advice to the Land Board;
viii. Scheduling Board meetings on advice of the Chairperson;
ix. Preparing Work plans, budgets and quarterly reports for the Board and submit them to the relevant authorities.