Land eviction risk analysis on Mailo land tenure system in Uganda; a case study of Kasambya Subcounty-Mubende District

Abstract

Access to secure land and housing is a precondition for reducing poverty, yet many millions of people live under the daily threat of eviction, or without sufficient security to invest what they have in improving their homes. Looking at the cases of evictions which have taken place in Uganda, most of the people evicted happen to be bona fide or lawful occupants (Bako, 2009). Despite all the resources invested by government, land evictions on Mailo Land tenure have continued to manifest. This can partly be attributed to lack of a GIS based land eviction risk analysis of communities where scarce resources and interventions can be invested by decision makers and appropriate actions taken. Therefore, this study aimed at carrying out a land eviction risk analysis in Kasambya Sub County, Mubende district. The specific objectives of this study included; a) To determine the causes of land evictions on Mailo land tenure. b) To develop a land eviction risk map for communities within Kasambya sub county, Mubende district. Factors that influence the land evictions were reclassified, given weights through pairwise comparison and overlaid to identify villages that are at risk of being evicted from the land. It was found out that villages near the Kasolo central forest reserve were at the highest risk of being evicted. This research recommends use of evidence-based interventions that can be taken by decision makers to control evictions.