Parliament Watch

Par­lia­ment Watch UG is a civic tech platform by @centre4policy that mon­i­tors & pro­vides rel­e­vant data & ex­pert insights on the Par­lia­ment of Uganda.

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

🇺🇬 FINANCING UGANDA’S CITIES

The House has moved to item 8 on the Order Paper. Joan Acom Alobo (Soroti District Woman Representative) is moving a motion urging the government to prioritise the development and financing of Uganda’s cities as regional centres for economic growth, investment and socio-economic transformation, to support balanced national development.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Parliament approved two waivers in separate votes, writing off Shs2,600,000,000 in annual mineral rent arrears owed by Kilembe Mines Limited as of December 2025 and waiving Shs1,864,329,231 in tax arrears owed by K-Roma Limited.

Speaker @ObothOboth (West Budama Central County) declared that the Ayes carried both motions. Between the votes, he suggested testing whether other struggling businesses could access the same relief.

#ObothOboth

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Ask the neighbours before issuing a replacement land title, George Musisi (Kira Municipality) urged Parliament.

@GeorgeMusisi4 proposed that land registrars hear from people whose land borders the plot, where feasible, alongside local council officials during site visits. He said applicants far from the land had exploited the process for issuing special certificates of title.

He also urged the Lands Minister to seek a legal opinion from the Attorney General before taking administrative decisions that could trigger lawsuits or leave ministers personally liable.

Watch:

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

“Before all of these transfers happen, first come to Parliament,” Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi (Nakawa Division West) told the government during debate on the proposed Shs2,600,000,000 write-off for Kilembe Mines Limited.

@KiryowaKk (Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs), a former Attorney General, said the mineral rent arrears were still on the books and the Finance Minister was seeking Parliament’s approval after efforts to recover them failed.

@JoelSsenyonyi said his objection was the timing. Citing the Finance Committee’s report, he said the licence and assets had already been transferred to the new consortium in 2025. Speaker @ObothOboth (West Budama Central County) said the decision on whether to abandon the claim rested with Parliament.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Penalties and interest pushed K-Roma Limited’s tax bill from just over Shs700,000,000 to the Shs1,864,329,231 the government wants Parliament to waive, Amos Lugoloobi (Minister of State for Planning) told the House.

Leader of the Opposition @JoelSsenyonyi (Nakawa Division West) had questioned why the proposed waiver exceeded the roughly Shs1,070,000,000 K-Roma paid in taxes over 16 financial years.

@AmosLugoloobi said any taxpayer could seek relief. If the Uganda Revenue Authority is satisfied it cannot recover the debt, it can refer the case to the Finance Minister, who seeks Parliament’s approval.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Penalties and interest pushed K-Roma Limited’s tax bill from just over Shs700,000,000 to the Shs1,864,329,231 the government wants Parliament to waive, Amos Lugoloobi (Minister of State for Planning) told the House.

Leader of the Opposition @JoelSsenyonyi (Nakawa Division West) had questioned why the proposed waiver exceeded the roughly Shs1,070,000,000 K-Roma paid in taxes over 16 financial years.

@AmosLugoloobi said any taxpayer could seek relief. If the Uganda Revenue Authority is satisfied it cannot recover the debt, it can refer the case to the Finance Minister, who seeks Parliament’s approval.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

The government is asking Parliament to waive Shs1,864,329,231 in tax arrears for K-Roma Limited.

That is about 1.7 times the roughly Shs1,070,000,000 the company paid in taxes over 16 financial years, Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi (Nakawa Division West) told the House.

@JoelSsenyonyi questioned what precedent that would set for businesses that pay their taxes voluntarily. He asked what conditions the government would attach to the waiver and what assurance MPs had that it would protect jobs and keep the company operating.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Kilembe Mines’ licence and assets had already been transferred to a new consortium while mineral rent arrears were still outstanding, Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi (Nakawa Division West) told Parliament, citing the Finance Committee’s report.

He asked who authorised an inter-ministerial committee to agree to the write-off on 3 January 2025 before Parliament approved it.

@JoelSsenyonyi also asked why the request had risen from about Shs2,297,000,000 in arrears through December 2024, which he said the Auditor General recommended writing off, to Shs2,600,000,000 covering arrears through 10 December 2025.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Kilembe Mines’ licence and assets had already been transferred to a new consortium while mineral rent arrears were still outstanding, Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi (Nakawa Division West) told Parliament, citing the Finance Committee’s report.

He asked who authorised an inter-ministerial committee to agree to the write-off on 3 January 2025 before Parliament approved it.

@JoelSsenyonyi also asked why the request had risen from about Shs2,297,000,000 in arrears through December 2024, which he said the Auditor General recommended writing off, to Shs2,600,000,000 covering arrears through 10 December 2025.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Amos Lugoloobi (Minister of State for Planning) asked Parliament to waive Shs1,864,329,231 in tax arrears owed by K-Roma Limited after the Uganda Revenue Authority’s recovery efforts failed.

Lugoloobi said the local wine and juice producer retained its workers during the COVID-19 pandemic even as sales suffered. He said it later lost market share to competitors using cheaper imported fruit concentrates and argued that the waiver would help keep the company operating.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Amos Lugoloobi (Minister of State for Planning) asked Parliament to write off Shs2,600,000,000 in annual mineral rent arrears owed by Kilembe Mines Limited as of December 2025, saying the waiver would ease the takeover by new investors.

Lugoloobi said the company previously earned more than 80% of its revenue from the Mubuku hydropower plant. He said floods and landslides damaged the plant and it had been out of operation since 2023.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Amos Lugoloobi (Minister of State for Planning) asked Parliament to write off Shs2,600,000,000 in annual mineral rent arrears owed by Kilembe Mines Limited as of December 2025, saying the waiver would ease the takeover by new investors.

Lugoloobi said the company previously earned more than 80% of its revenue from the Mubuku hydropower plant. He said floods and landslides damaged the plant and it had been out of operation since 2023.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug

[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

🇺🇬 KILEMBE MINES WAIVER

Amos Lugoloobi (Minister of State for Planning) has moved a motion seeking Parliament’s approval for a waiver of non-tax revenue for Kilembe Mines Limited.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

🇺🇬 PARLIAMENT ADOPTS BOTH LAND TITLE REPORTS

The Ayes carried both motions as Speaker @ObothOboth (West Budama Central County) put each report to the House separately.

The first Lands Committee report covered duplicate and overlapping land titles following oversight visits to the National Land Information Centre and zonal land offices in Wakiso-Busiro, Masaka, Jinja, Mbale and Soroti. The second examined the suspension of the issuance of special certificates of title.

Citing Rule 229, Oboth said the Lands Minister should return to Parliament with an action-taken report on both adopted reports.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

“We are sitting on a time bomb,” Patrick Kitiyo (Kapchorwa Municipality) told Parliament, warning that overlapping land titles in Bulambuli were fuelling tensions between communities in Bugisu and Sebei.

Kitiyo said a 2012 government white paper called for the cancellation of titles for plots 100 and 101, covering about 34,000 acres. He said the directive had yet to be implemented and urged the Lands Minister to intervene.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu (Kalungu County West) called for an investigation into a Wakiso magistrate during debate on overlapping land titles. He alleged that some land dealers colluded with court officials and said he would pass on details of the case.

Patrick Kitiyo (Kapchorwa Municipality), who said he had worked as a magistrate, challenged Ssewungu to produce evidence. He said taking a plea requires the accused, a state attorney and court police orderlies, and questioned how one judicial officer could conduct the proceedings in secret.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

The Lands Ministry’s own land search reports carry a disclaimer saying it takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information, Samuel Acuti Opio (Kole North County) told Parliament. He called for the disclaimer to be removed, saying buyers rely on those reports when purchasing land.

Kiryowa Kiwanuka (Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs), a former Attorney General, defended the warning. He said a search could identify the registered owner while a kibanja holder or customary owner was in possession of the land. His advice to buyers was to check both the register and the land itself.

“Did you win the appeal?” Speaker @ObothOboth (West Budama Central County) asked, referring to a case Kiwanuka had argued. “No, I did not win the appeal,” @KiryowaKk replied. Oboth also urged buyers to visit the land after checking the register.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Who pays when a problem with a land title surfaces after it has been digitised? Ann Maria Nankabirwa (Kyankwanzi District Woman Representative) told Parliament that her bank flagged a “backlog” on a title it had held for some time. She said landowners were being made to pay twice to resolve problems she blamed on the digitisation process.

“What is this backlog?” Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth (West Budama Central County) asked. Nankabirwa questioned why the cost should fall on the title holder.

She also said Wamala Growers Co-operative Union, which she chairs, discovered while seeking a lease renewal that land it held under lease from the Kabaka in Mubende Municipality had been converted to freehold. She said the issue was resolved with help from the Lands Minister.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Isaac Ismail Otimgiw (Padyere County) urged the Lands Ministry to extend a reduced-fee land titling project and consider waiving fees for communities that cannot afford them.

@otimgiw said Nebbi District benefited from the short-lived project, which helped communities secure titles for communal and ancestral land. He asked the ministry what Parliament could do to help extend it.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

Solomon Silwany (Bukooli County Central) asked the Lands Minister what she would do to help Ugandans get land titles faster, saying delays left buyers unable to use their land to secure a mortgage.

Silwany said the Lands Committee was “reading the Book of Lamentations” by detailing the hurdles applicants faced without offering solutions. He asked the minister to spell out what would change for people trying to title land they had bought.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

James Waluswaka (Bunyole West County) called for surveyors to be held accountable where they help create overlapping land titles, warning that even government land with long-standing titles can end up with a second title over the same parcel.

Speaking during debate on the Lands Committee reports, he urged government surveyors to tighten oversight of private surveyors. He also proposed transferring technical staff at zonal land offices after a maximum of three years.

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

🇺🇬 LAND TITLES

Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth (West Budama Central County) has directed that any debate on the two Lands Committee reports be taken together.

The first covers duplicate and overlapping land titles. The second examines the Lands Minister’s suspension of the issuance of special certificates of title.

#ObothOboth

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[Parliament Watch @pwatchug]

🇺🇬 LAND TITLES

The House has moved to the motion to adopt the Lands Committee’s report on duplicate and overlapping land titles.

The report follows oversight visits to the National Land Information Centre and zonal land offices in Wakiso-Busiro, Masaka, Jinja, Mbale and Soroti.

Photo: @Parliament_Ug