Lady Justice Jane Frances Abodo has urged Parliament and the Judiciary to strengthen cooperation on land administration and alternative dispute resolution as the High Court Land Division grapples with 6,557 pending cases.
Principal Judge Jane Frances Abodo, has called for stronger collaboration between the Judiciary and Parliament to address weaknesses in land administration, reduce disputes and promote mediation as a way of resolving conflicts outside court.
Lady Justice Abodo made the call while receiving the Parliamentary Committee on Lands, led by its chairperson, Edson Rugumayo, at the Supreme Court Building in Kampala.
She said land disputes often extend beyond ownership claims, affecting family relationships, businesses, livelihoods and community stability.
“Land is really very emotive, and it is almost like a boiling pot for most of the offences; they all arise from land,” Abodo said.
She noted that unresolved disputes can strain family relationships, disrupt businesses, undermine confidence in land transactions and increase pressure on the justice system.
Abodo also said concerns about double and multiple land titling, as well as the temporary suspension of routine issuance of Special Certificates of Title, were matters of legitimate public interest that required careful consideration.
“We have different mandates, but we share the same interest that the people, your voters, and the people that we serve as a Judiciary really enjoy their land rights, and that when disputes arise and they come to the courts, they must be handled expeditiously and fairly,” she said.
The scale of the challenge was highlighted by the Head of the High Court Land Division, Lady Justice Jane Alividza, who reported that the division had approximately 6,557 pending cases.
A preliminary assessment indicated that about 1,600 involved fraud-related disputes, including double titling and overlapping land interests. Alividza cautioned that the figures were estimates and that a more detailed study would be needed to establish reliable statistics.
She also revealed that the division’s oldest pending case dates back to 1987, illustrating how some land disputes can remain unresolved for decades.
Alividza attributed delays to repeated interlocutory applications, appeals against interim rulings, complex evidence, multiple parties and increasingly sophisticated land fraud schemes.
She called for stronger verification mechanisms in land administration and closer cooperation among the Judiciary, Parliament, police, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and other relevant institutions to address fraud involving lawyers and surveyors.
The proposed collaboration is intended to strengthen the handling of land disputes, improve the integrity of land records and help ensure that cases reaching court are resolved fairly and without unnecessary delay.