KAMPALA – Cabinet has approved the covenants and conditions for mortgaging government land by Investors.
Among the conditions, the investor is required to submit application for investment land to the relevant Government entity with the memorandum and articles of association, a copy of certificate of registration or certificate of incorporation, the investment license issued by Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and the business plan articulating detailed project idea.
The investor is also required to provide the preliminary architectural layout of proposed of the proposed facilities, documentary evidence of financial capacity to fully use land, the activity schedule highlighting key milestone for the first 18 months duly broken into deliverables for every six months, the written commitment that milestones will be met and where the investor fails, land is withdrawn.
He or she is also required to provide a detailed business plan and proposed total amount of investment in US dollars.
According to Cabinet, the land application will be evaluated in line with the land application guidelines and an evaluation report is prepared. The application shall be processed in not more than two months from the date of receipt of the application. A decision is communicated giving a lease offer or reasons why the application was declined. When an offer is made, it should be valid for one month within which written acceptance of the offer must be given to Government by the investor (Company). The value of the land allocated to an investor shall be determined and shall be captured as the contribution of Government. The lease agreement is signed between the investor and government subject to approved terms and conditions. The processing of the Leasehold Certificate of Title should not take more than two weeks. No investor shall be allowed to take possession of the land without a signed lease agreement and Leasehold Certificate of Title. Government shall have powers to allocate any land for which a lease agreement has not been signed even if a lease offer has been accepted by the investor. Land allocation shall be confirmed only and only if the lease offer leads to signing of the lease agreement.
According to Cabinet, No investor shall be allowed to take possession of the land without a valid lease agreement. Any allocation of land for which a lease agreement has not been signed by the investor within a stipulated period shall revert back to Government and will be available for allocation of other investors. The lease agreement shall be signed within one month following its approval by Government. The effective date of land allocation is the day the lease agreement is signed.
