Soroti Resident Judge, Margaret Oguli has launched the land division section of Soroti High Court.
The division is in chief magistrate’s court dealing with land matters.
Justice Oguli said the division is going to cover 18 districts of Teso and Karamoja regions. Oguli said this is the third division to be opened in Uganda adding that about 15 of them are expected to be opened countrywide. The first to be launched was Kampala followed by Mengo.
Oguli said that this is an initiative of the High Court of Uganda and it’s designed handle the land matters expeditiously.
According to Justice Oguli, majority of the civil cases in the court are land matters and many of the criminal cases are related to land conflicts. She said more specialized officers will be recruited to run the division.
Oguli requested the district political leadership and the police to respect and assist the court so that they can be able to implement the decisions which are passed from court.
The deputy registrar High Court of Uganda, John Keitirima called upon other agencies of government to cooperate with the lands court when disputes are being resolved.
Soroti district chairperson George Micheal Egunyu identified misinterpretation of the land law, culture as some of the causes of land conflicts in Teso and Soroti in particular.
Egunyu said while parents gave land to institutions like churhes, schools and some to friends, children have started demanding for the same land these days.
