Uganda's digital land registration system has helped curb fraud and improve speed and transparency, but a huge backlog at the Jinja Ministry Zonal Office (MZO) is exposing gaps in staffing, infrastructure and records management.
Jinja Registrar of Titles Jamirah Lunkuse said integration of the Uganda National Land Information System (UgNLIS) with NIRA and URA systems has made registration more secure by reducing impersonation and falsification of payment receipts.
"Registration has been made easy, transparent, secure, speedy and easily accessible," Lunkuse said.
The gains, however, have not eliminated challenges at the office, which serves 11 districts and Jinja City.
The MZO has 12,748 registered transactions and thousands of pending applications, but operates with only 14 staff against an approved 25.
Lunkuse said some registration stages still require physical handling, including retrieving legacy files, verifying original documents and signing transfer instruments.
The office also faces unreliable internet and electricity, inadequate ICT and survey equipment, and poor records management.
Old records complicate digitisation
Lunkuse said outdated titles, deeds, cadastral maps and historical ownership records continue to hamper full digitisation, while errors in names and discrepancies between titles and survey maps delay registration and trigger disputes.
"Some inherited records are old and have inconsistencies between titles and survey maps," she said.
She said poorly managed survey files and inadequate data from the former manual system can also lead to overlapping titles.
"Poorly maintained survey information can result in overlapping interests on the same piece of land," Lunkuse said.
The Jinja MZO has detected two forged titles. One, involving Block 3 Plot 600, was handed to police, while another involving LRV 153 Folio 14 is before court.
Lunkuse said disputes are resolved through boundary surveys, site visits and ownership verification.
"We advise proprietors to undertake a resurvey where there is evidence of a shift in the survey boundaries," she said.
Digital mapping tracks protected land
Digital mapping helps identify sensitive areas and link titles to surveys, but physical verification remains necessary where maps differ.
Lunkuse said Busoga's wetlands face pressure from cultivation, settlement, industrial development, brick making, sand mining, infrastructure projects and waste disposal.
Forests and other protected areas face similar threats including charcoal burning, timber harvesting, grazing and settlement.
Budondo, Irimbi, Malongo and Luvunia were among areas cited.
"Wetlands and forests should be gazetted on the system to avoid plotting in such areas," she said.
She called for regular staff training, induction of Area Land Committees and District Land Boards, better ICT infrastructure and a complaints management system.
She urged the public to use radio, television and community meetings to encourage holders of old titles to link them to their parcels.
"Physical planners should ensure subdivisions do not create landlocked plots or encroach on road reserves," Lunkuse said.
Staffing gap
Principal Assistant Secretary Beatrice Adong Oling said the office has 11 vacant positions, including senior land officer, senior registrar of titles, senior IT officer, records officer, senior assistant accountant, secretary, receptionist and driver.
"We have a staffing gap, outdated ICT equipment and inadequate field equipment, which affect our operations," Adong said.
Adong said the office needs a biometric machine, modern ICT and survey equipment, strong-room shelves, fire extinguishers, furniture and a field vehicle. She said the building needs renovation and lacks a title deed, while additional land is needed for expansion and a perimeter wall.
Despite challenges, the Jinja MZO collected Shs459.1 million in tax and non-tax revenue in 2025/26, down from Shs1.58 billion in 2024/25 and Shs2.1 billion in 2023/24.
Officials attributed the decline partly to fewer chargeable transactions under the Systematic Land Adjudication and Certification (SLAAC) programme, which issued titles free of charge. The office has also recorded fewer mortgage transactions and changes to some title-related charges.
Backlog piles up
The biggest backlog is 6,531 applications for conversion of customary land to freehold. Others include 570 transfers, 460 subdivisions, 377 caveats, 355 mortgages, 348 title rectifications, 226 valuations, 206 cadastral maintenance cases and 197 resurveys.
Staff Surveyor Daniel Francis Wagoli said some pending transactions date back years, with others remaining on the system after clients abandoned them and filed fresh applications.
"Some transactions have lasted five, six, even 10 years and remain at the initial stage of generating instructions to survey," Wagoli said.
He said some clients abandoned applications started under the former manual system after the digital system was introduced, while others filed fresh applications after failing to trace old files.
"You find that these transactions are just lagging on the system," he said.
Wagoli said the office is reluctant to withdraw old transactions because clients may return to claim them, while some cannot be traced by name because they had not yet been assigned plot numbers.
"At the instruction-to-survey stage, you cannot trace a transaction by name; you can only do so when it is complete," he said.
He said some files remain at the office because surveyors who handled them have died or clients can no longer trace them.
The backlog comes as government expands documentation through SLAAC. The Jinja MZO targets 80,000 titles across Busoga and had delivered 34,613 to seven districts by August. Kamuli received 16,735, followed by Luuka 9,203, Mayuge 4,048 and Namutumba 3,275.
Jinja District received 1,332 titles and Buyende 50, while Jinja City received none, although 89 titles were awaiting collection at the MZO. The office is also expected to print 44,124 Certificates of Customary Ownership for Kamuli and Buyende under a Cordaid-supported programme.
Officials warned that technology alone cannot clear the backlog without adequate staffing, infrastructure and updated records.
The Parliamentary Committee on Land, chaired by Ntoroko MP Edson Rugumayo and deputised by Jinja District Woman MP Peace Tibyaze, has given Jinja MZO officials three months to clear thousands of pending transactions, warning that further delays are unacceptable.
