Tenancy by occupany: is it a tenancy or a tenure?(The incidences of section 29 of the land act, Cap 227)
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Date
2017
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Panamaline Books Distributors Limited
Abstract
The article brings details about land laws in Uganda in relation to tenancy. Ownership of land would make a lot of sense if it is registered, not only for the statistic of the country but also for the owner. In our case, registration of land under the RTA is, legally, a right in rem. A legal right and a conferment of an indefeasible title within the meaning of the Torrens system of land registration. However, in the event that registered land is encumbered with a tenant or tenants by occupancy, then the supposed indefeasibility of title is negated. It is instead the tenancy that becomes indefeasible irrespective of the fact that it is not registered. The law protects a tenancy by occupancy irrespective of whether it is noted on the register or not. The onerous provisions to secure a court order to evict a tenant by occupancy, under the Land Amendment Act, No. 1 of 2010, guarantee the perpetual nature of the tenancy. Given the fact that a tenant by occupancy can only be evicted for non-payment of rent, through a court process which lasts for nearly a year, it makes the venture very unattractive. It also means that the tenant by occupancy can cause environmental degradation but that by itself cannot be used as reason for eviction. The fact that a tenancy by occupancy can outlive a lease, for example, leaves little room to argue that it is actually a tenancy as enumerated under the long-standing principles of landlord and tenant law or the law of tenancies. A tenancy by occupancy is only but a tenure save for the legislators cajoling the language of the statute to console but also comfort the registered landowners on whose land there happens to be tenants by occupancy occupying it. Call it a tenure and close the fallacy!!
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Keywords
tenancy, tenure, land ownership, occupants, Uganda, Uganda land law