Registration of Titles Act

Section Interpretation Section In this Act, unless inconsistent with the context or subject matter— “ addition ” means the description as to residence and profession, trade or occupation of any person; “ bankruptcy ” includes liquidation of a company, and terms applicable to bankruptcy include terms applicable to the liquidation of a company; “ certificate of title ” or “certificate” means a certificate of title issued by the Registrar under this Act; “ endorsed ” includes anything written upon or in the margin or at the foot of any document; “ final mailo certificate ” means a certificate by which the title of an African of Uganda to land is finally recognised; “ grant ” means the grant by or on behalf of the Government of Uganda or a controlling authority under the Public Lands Act of land whether in fee or for years; “ encumbrances ” includes all prior estates, interests, rights, claims and demands which can or may be had, made or set up in, to, upon, or in respect of, the land ; “ instrument ” includes any document in pursuance of which an entry is made in the register; “ land ” includes messuages, tenements and hereditaments corporeal or incorporeal; and in every certificate o...

Section Conflicting laws Section Except so far as is expressly enacted to the contrary, no Act or rule so far as inconsistent with this Act shall apply or be deemed to apply to land whether freehold or leasehold which is under the operation of this Act. This Act shall not be construed as limiting or abridging the provisions of any law for the time being in force in Uganda relating specially to the property of married women.

Section Appointment of officers Section A Registrar of Titles shall be appointed to have the charge and control of the Office of Titles and to exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed upon the Registrar of Titles by this or any other Act. There may be appointed a deputy registrar of titles and such assistant registrars of titles as may be required for the purposes of this Act. The appointments made under this section shall be made in accordance with any written law relating to the appointment of persons in the public service.

Section Signature to be judicially noticed Section All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the signature of the Registrar .

Section Seal of office Section The Registrar shall cause to be kept a seal bearing the impression of the armorial ensigns of Uganda and having inscribed in the margin of the seal the words “Office of Titles, Uganda”; and all certificates of title and other documents purporting to be sealed with such seal and to be signed by the Registrar or Assistant Registrar shall be admissible as evidence without further proof.

Section Appointment of sworn valuers Section The Minister may appoint persons to be sworn valuers under this act and at pleasure annul the appointment of any such person. Every person appointed under subsection (1) shall within fourteen days from his or her appointment and before making any valuation under this Act take the following oath before a judge of the High Court or such other person as the Minister may appoint— “I, ________, (name) do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and honestly and to the best of my skill and ability make any valuation required of me under the provisions of the Registration of Titles Act. So help me God.” or make the following solemn affirmation before a judge of the High Court or such other person as the Minister may appoint— “I, ________, (name) do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will faithfully and honestly and to the best of my skill and ability make any valuation required of me under the provisions of the Registration of Titles Act.”

Section Application when no dealing has been registered under Cap. 113, 1951 Revision, Ordinance 3 of 1904 or Registration of Documents Act Section If on any such application or dealing as aforesaid it appears to the Registrar that no transaction affecting the land has been registered under the Land Regulations, the Registration of Documents Ordinance, 1904, or the Registration of Documents Act, he or she shall bring the land under the operation of this Act forthwith by registering a certificate of title to the land in the form in Schedule 2 to this Act.

Section Application when dealing has been registered Section If it appears to the Registrar that any such transaction as aforesaid has been registered and that all encumbrances affecting the land , excepting such as are hereafter mentioned as not requiring special notification, have been released, or that the owners of the land have consented to the application, or that any encumbrance, not being a mortgage the owner of which has not consented to the application, may be specified in the certificate of title and continue outstanding, the Registrar shall publish notice of the application in the Gazette and shall serve the notice on such person or persons as he or she may think fit, and shall appoint a time not less than twenty-eight days nor more than twelve months from the publication of the notice on or after the expiration of which the Registrar shall, unless a caveat is lodged forbidding it, bring the land under the operation of this Act.

Section Rejection of application for delay Section The Registrar may, after giving to the applicant or his or her agent one month’s notice in this behalf, reject the application unless the applicant adduces satisfactory proof that he or she is proceeding without unnecessary delay in complying with any requisitions on the title made by the Registrar .

Section Notices of application Section Upon any application being made to bring land under this Act, or in any such dealing as aforesaid, the Registrar shall serve the notice thereof mentioned in section 11 on all persons appearing on the register to have a then subs estate or interest in the land.

Section Person claiming title by possession to post notice of application land Section On any application to bring land under this Act on a title claimed by possession, the applicant shall post on the land the subject of the application or at such place as the Registrar directs a notice in the form of Form II of Schedule 1 to this Act, either accurately describing or necessarily including the land claimed by possession, and shall keep that notice so posted for not less than twenty-one days prior to the granting of the application; and the Registrar may refuse to issue the certificate until it has been proved to his or her satisfaction that the requirements ofthis section have been complied with.

Section Land to be brought under Act unless caveat received Section If before the registration of the certificate the Registrar has not received a caveat forbidding the registration, he or she shall bring the land under this Act by registering in the name of the applicant or in the name of such person as has been directed in that behalf a certificate of title to the land in the form in Schedule 2 to this Act.

Section Land occupied may be brought under Act by different description from that in title Section On any application to bring land under this Act in which the land actually and bona fide occupied by the applicant differs in boundaries, area or position from the land described in his or her muniments of title, he or she may apply to bring under this Act the land so occupied; and in any such case the applicant shall state in his or her application in addition to the other particulars required by this Act that the land as occupied by him or her and as to which he or she applies for a certificate is not correctly described in the muniments of title lodged in support of the application, and shall specify to the best of his or her knowledge and belief the reasons for the discrepancy between the land as occupied and the land as described in the muniments of title.

Section Application to bring land under Act may be granted as to land occupied under but not described in title deeds Section On any application to bring land under this Act by a description different from that in the muniments of title, the Registrar may grant the application as to the land in the occupation of the applicant if the discrepancy between the land as occupied and as described in the muniments appears to be due to the inaccuracy of any survey or plan or description on the sale of the land by the Government of Uganda or controlling authority or on any subsequent dealing therewith, or to any discrepancy between the actual measurements or bearings at any time made or marked on the ground and those represented or mentioned in any plan or description.

Section In case of error in Government survey, title may correspond to actual dimensions Section If the land included in any application to bring land under this Act consists of an estate or plot surveyed by the Government and it is found by survey or otherwise that by reason of erroneous measurements in the original Government survey the actual dimensions of the estate or plot as marked on the ground exceed or fall short of the dimensions given in the grant of the land , the Registrar may issue a certificate in respect of that land as if the dimensions marked on the ground had been the dimensions given in the grant .

Section Excess of land may be apportioned between different owners or proprietors Section Where a block or section of public land has been subdivided into plots or portions of equal area and by reason of erroneous measurements in the original survey the area of the block or section as marked on the ground exceeds the sum of the areas of all the plots or portions as shown by any plan or description used at the sale or by any grant or certificate of title of any such plot or portion, the total excess of area of the block or section shall be deemed originally distributable among the plots or portions equally; and if the area of the land included in any application to bring land under this Act is in the applicant’s possession and was in that applicant’s possession or in the possession of those through whom he or she claims for over twelve years previous to the application and does not exceed the area obtained by dividing the area of the block or section as shown on the ground by the number of original plots or portions, the Registrar may, without ascertaining the dimensions of the other plots or portions and without the consent of the owner or owners of those plots or portions, issue a...

Section Parties interested may lodge caveat Section A person claiming any estate or interest in the land described in any notice issued by the Registrar under this Act may, before the registration of the certificate, lodge a caveat with the Registrar in the form in Schedule 3 to this Act forbidding the bringing of that land under this Act. Every caveat lodged under subsection (1) shall be signed by the caveator or by his or her agent, and shall particularise the estate or interest claimed; and the person lodging the caveat shall, if required by the Registrar, support the caveat by a statutory declaration stating the nature of the title under which the claim is made, and also deliver a perfect abstract of the title to that estate or interest. No caveat under this section shall be received unless some address or place in which a post office is situated shall be appointed in it as the place which notices and proceedings relating to the caveat may be served.

Section Proceedings suspended if caveat received Section The Registrar upon receipt of a caveat lodged under section 20 shall notify the applicant of the caveat, and shall suspend proceedings in the matter until the caveat has been withdrawn or has lapsed as provided in section 22 or 24 or until an order in the matter has been obtained from the High Court. The applicant may, if he or she thinks fit, summon the caveator to attend before the High Court to show cause why the caveat should not be removed, and the High Court may, upon proof that the caveator has been summoned, make such order in the premises either ex parte or otherwise and as to costs as to it seems fit.

Section Caveat to lapse unless proceedings taken within one month Section After the expiration of one month from the receipt of a caveat, that caveat shall be deemed to have lapsed, unless the person by whom or on whose behalf it was lodged within that time has taken proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to establish his or her title to the estate or interest specified in the caveat, and has given written notice of the proceedings to the Registrar , or has obtained and served on the Registrar an injunction or order of the High Court restraining him or her from bringing the land under this Act. A caveat shall not be renewed by or on behalf of the same person in respect of the same estate or interest.

Section Production of title deeds in support of application to bring land under Act Section After an application has been made to have any land brought under the operation of this Act, the Registrar may require all persons having in their possession or custody any deeds, instruments or evidences of title relating to or affecting the land the subject of that application to produce them at the office of titles for his or her inspection.

Section Applicant may withdraw application Section An applicant may withdraw his or her application at any time prior to the registration of the certificate; and the Registrar shall, in that case, return to the applicant or to the person appearing by the application to be entitled to them all muniments of title lodged in support of the application; but in that case, if a caveator has been put to expense without sufficient cause by reason of the application, he or she shall be entitled to receive from the applicant such compensation as a judge of the High Court on a summons in chambers deems just and orders.

Section Endorsement of prior title deeds Section Upon registering a certificate of title , the Registrar shall endorse and sign upon the last in date of those documents registered under the Land Regulations, the Registration of Documents Ordinance, 1904, or the Registration of Documents Act, as shall have been lodged in support of the application a memorandum that land included in that document has been brought under this Act without specifying the land or referring to the certificate in which the land brought under this Act is included and shall forward a copy of the memorandum to the Registrar of documents who shall thereupon endorse and sign a like memorandum on the registered copy of the document; and if the documents lodged relate to any property other than the land included in the certificate, the Registrar shall return them to the applicant or to the person appearing by the applicant to be entitled to them; otherwise the Registrar shall stamp each of them as cancelled and after he or she has so stamped them shall retain them in the office; and no person shall be entitled to an inspection of the documents or to have any copy of them or extract from them without the written or...

Section Subsisting lease to be endorsed and returned Section Where any subsisting lease has been lodged, the Registrar shall, after he or she has endorsed it as provided in section 25 in the case of the last in date of material registered documents, return the lease to the person lodging it upon the applicant lodging with the Registrar a certified copy of the lease.

Section Record Book to be kept Section The Registrar shall keep a book to be called the “Record Book” in which shall be kept a record of all deeds and documents produced and used in support of each application to bring land under this Act which hereafter is granted. The record referred to in subsection (1) shall state briefly the nature and date of and parties to every such deed or document, by whom executed or signed, and whether registered under the Land Regulations, the Registration of Documents Ordinance, 1904, or the Registration of Documents Act, or not, and if registered the date of the registration; and the Record Book shall be open for inspection by the public during the hours and days of business on payment of the prescribed fee.

Section Certificate of title to issue in name of deceased applicant or his or her nominee Section In case the applicant or the person in whose name the applicant has requested that the certificate of title shall be issued dies between the application and the registration of the certificate, it shall be registered in the name of that applicant or of that person, as the case may be, and the land shall devolve or pass in like manner as if the certificate had been registered prior to the death of that applicant or person.

Section Application to bring under Act land registered under Ordinance 11 of 1908 Section Any person in whose name any land is registered under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, may make an application in the form in Schedule 4 to this Act to the Registrar to bring that land under this Act.

Section Procedure Section Upon receipt of any application under section 29 , the Registrar shall— bring the land under this Act by registering in the name or names of such person or persons as may be entitled to it a certificate or certificates of title to the land in the form in Schedule 2 to this Act; record at the foot of the certificate or certificates all encumbrances registered under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, and subsisting at the date of the registration of the certificate or certificates; and endorse the original and duplicate certificate of title under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, as follows: “Cancelled. Land brought under the operation of the Registration of Titles Act, Vol. ________, Fol. ________” and the date, and initial the certificates and endorse the original and duplicate grant as follows: “Land brought under the operation of the Registration of Titles Act, Vol. ________ Fol. ________” and the date, and initial the grants and on request return the duplicate documents so endorsed to the applicant.

Section Effect of lodgment of instrument affecting land registered under Ordinance 11 of 1908 Section Where, after the commencement of this Act, an instrument affecting land or any interest in land , the title to which is registered under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, is presented for registration, that instrument shall have the same effect and shall be treated in the same manner as an application under section 29 as to the whole of the land comprised in the title affected, and upon the receipt of any such instrument the Registrar shall— register the instrument in the proper folium of the register of titles kept under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908; and proceed as directed in section 30 .

Section Closing of 1908 register Section When land has been brought under this Act in accordance with section 30 or 31 , the register kept under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, shall be closed so far as concerns that land, and there shall be no further registration in respect of the land in that register. Land shall be deemed to have been brought under this Act as from the date on which the certificate of title with respect to the land shall have been signed by the Registrar .

Section Fees Section The fees payable for the registration of an instrument under section 31 shall be the same as would be payable for the registration of a like instrument under the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, and in respect of the bringing of land under this Act in accordance with section 30 or 31 of this Act the fees specified in Schedule 5 to this Act shall be payable.

Section Fee for assurance of title Section Upon first bringing land under the operation of this Act whether on a grant or consequent upon an application or dealing as hereinbefore provided, there shall be paid to the Registrar as a fee in respect of the assurance of title the sum specified in that behalf in Schedule 5 to this Act; and in the case of freeholds brought under this Act upon a grant , the value of the freehold for the purpose of ascertaining that sum shall be deemed to be the price paid for the land ; and in the case of leaseholds brought under this Act upon a grant , the value shall be deemed to be twenty times the annual rent reserved; and in other cases the value shall be ascertained by the statutory declaration of the applicant. If the Registrar is not satisfied of the correctness of the value sworn to under subsection (1) , he or she may require the applicant to produce a certificate of the value under the hand of a sworn valuer, which certificate shall be received as conclusive evidence of the value. Nothing in this section shall apply to any land included in a final mailo certificate whenever issued, unless prior to the application to bring that land under the op...

Section Additional assurance fee in case of imperfect title Section Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, the Registrar may, after the publication at the applicant’s expense of such advertisements as he or she deems fit, bring any land under the operation of this Act upon the applicant paying as an additional fee in respect of assurance of title a sum of money equal to five percent of the total value of the land as an indemnity by reason of the non-production of any document affecting the title or of the imperfect nature of the evidence of title, or against any uncertain or doubtful claim or demand arising upon the title. Where the Registrar is not satisfied that sufficient evidence of title to any land has been produced, he or she may refuse to bring that land under the operation of this Act.

Section Registration of leaseholds Section Any lease of freehold or mailo land registered under this Act of which not less than ten years are unexpired may be brought under the operation of this Act as near as may be in the manner and subject to the provisions of this Act relating to lands alienated before the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, and the provisions of this Act shall, with such adaptations as may be necessary, extend and apply accordingly. Every certificate of title to leasehold land shall be subject to the rights and powers of the lessor or other proprietor of the reversion immediately expectant upon the term. Any certificate of title to a lease granted by a registered proprietor of freehold or mailo land which has, prior to the 9th day of August, 1962, been issued by the office of titles shall be deemed to have been validly issued in accordance with this Act.

Section Future grants and final mailo certificates to be registered Section The grants in fee or for years of all surveyed public lands remaining unalienated and all final mailo certificates which have not been issued prior to the commencement of this Act shall be in duplicate and in addition to proper words of description shall refer to a plan of the land , and shall be delivered to the Registrar , who on payment of the fee, if any, in respect of the assurance of title shall register the grant or final mailo certificate in the manner hereafter directed. Registration under subsection (1) shall be deemed and taken to be an enrolment of record of the grant or certificate, and that enrolment shall relate back to the day of the date of the grant or final mailo certificate, and either part of the grant or final mailo certificate when registered under this Act shall be sufficient evidence of a duly enrolled grant or final mailo certificate of the land described in it to or in favour of the person named in it made or issued on the day of the date thereof. All land included in any final mailo certificate whenever issued shall after the commencement of this Act, be subject to the operation...

Section Grants for public purposes Section At the time of the registration of every grant in fee to two or more persons in joint tenancy for any public purpose, the Registrar shall endorse on it and on every subsequent certificate of title the words “no survivorship” and shall sign his or her name thereto.

Section Lands alienated before Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908 Section All land within the meaning of this section may be brought under the operation of this Act on an application in Form I of Schedule 1 to this Act, which application may be made by any of the following persons— Notwithstanding subsection (3) — All documents relating to land which was alienated in fee or for years by or on behalf of the Crown before the commencement of the Registration of Land Titles Ordinance, 1908, shall immediately on the commencement of this Act be collected from the district offices and lodged for custody in the office of titles, and the following procedure shall be adopted with regard to that land . Where after the commencement of this Act an instrument affecting land referred to in subsection (1) or any interest in that land is presented for registration, the Registrar shall proceed to bring the whole of that land under the operation of this Act in the same manner as hereafter prescribed on an application to bring that land under the Act; but if any such land has not been surveyed, the Registrar may call upon the person entitled to a certificate of title under this Act to have th...

Section Register Book Section The Registrar may— The Registrar shall keep a book, to be called the “Register Book" and shall register in it certificates of title, and shall enter in such manner as to preserve their priorities the particulars of all dealings and matters affecting the land by this Act required to be registered or entered. keep the Register Book, or any part of it, in such loose-leaf or other form as he or she may consider appropriate; and keep the Register Book in parts, each relating to a district, county, subcounty or other convenient area. Every person whose name is entered in the Register Book as proprietor of any land , or any interest in land , or as a caveator, or as entitled to receive any notice, or in any other capacity, shall furnish to the Registrar a place of address in Uganda.

Section Certificates of title Section Where the Register Book is kept in parts under section 37(2)(b) , the Registrar shall— Certificates of title shall be in one of the forms in Schedule 2 to this Act and shall be in duplicate. One of the certificates shall be registered in the Register Book, and the other original, hereafter called the duplicate, shall be issued to the person entitled to it. Each certificate of title shall constitute a separate folium of the Register Book. Whenever it shall appear expedient to the Registrar , he or she may cancel the certificate of title registered in the Register Book and may register a certificate of title in any of the forms prescribed under this Act in lieu of that certificate, but the Registrar shall not issue any such new certificate until the duplicate of the certificate cancelled under this subsection is in his or her hands. file each certificate in the appropriate part of the Register Book, by reference to the location of the land in respect of which the certificate is registered; and enter upon the certificate a reference to the block and plot number Where the Registrar has entered upon a certificate a reference to the block and plot nu...

Section Issue of limited certificates Section Where the Registrar deems it necessary or expedient to do so, he or she may, after the 1st day of November, 1958, in respect of any land for which no certificate of title has previously been registered and of which no survey plan has been deposited, with the consent of the Registrar of lands and surveys, register a certificate in any of the prescribed forms which is endorsed with the words “Limited as to Parcels”.

Section Removal of limitation as to parcels Section On payment of the prescribed fee, the Registrar may remove the limitation as to parcels from a limited certificate or may register an ordinary certificate in lieu of the limited certificate , but he or she shall not be bound to do so until— he or she is satisfied by the deposit of a survey plan and of such other evidence as he or she may deem necessary, that no part of the land to which the limited certificate relates is held in occupation adverse to the title of its proprietor ; and he or she has given to the persons appearing to him or her to be the proprietors of adjoining land such notice as he or she deems necessary of his or her intention to remove the limitation, and until the expiration of that notice.

Section Ordinary certificate not to be registered until limitation removed Section Except as otherwise provided in this Act, so long as a certificate continues to be limited as to parcels, no new certificate, other than a limited certificate , shall be registered in substitution for it, or for any part of the land comprised in it, unless in the latter case the limitation as to parcels does not affect the part of the land for which the new certificate is sought to be registered.

Section Application of Act to limited certificate Section Except as otherwise provided in this Act, all the provisions of this Act shall, so far as the circumstances of the case will admit, apply with respect to land comprised in a limited certificate and to the registration of instruments and other matters affecting the land .

Section No action against Government in certain cases Section No action for the recovery of damages shall lie against the Government by the proprietor of land comprised in any limited certificate or by any other person by reason of any error or omission in the description of the parcel of land comprised in that certificate.

Section Area of land need not be mentioned in certificate Section It shall not be necessary to mention the area of any parcel of land included in a certificate where the area of the parcel is less than one acre, and the omission to refer to the area of the land comprised in a certificate shall not in any case invalidate the certificate.

Section Receipts may be required for duplicate certificates Section On the delivery of any duplicate certificate of title , a receipt for it in the handwriting of the proprietor may, when practicable, be required to be signed by him or her.

Section Effective date of registration; duly registered proprietor Section Subject to section 122(2) , every certificate of title shall be deemed and taken to be registered under this Act when the Registrar has marked on it— the volume and folium of the Register Book in which it is entered; or the block and plot number of the land in respect of which that certificate of title is to be registered. Every instrument purporting to affect land or any interest in land , the title to which has been registered under this Act, shall be deemed to be registered when a memorial of the instrument as described in section 51 has been entered in the Register Book upon the folium constituted by the certificate of title. The memorial mentioned in subsection (2) shall be entered as at the time and date on which the instrument to which it relates was received in the office of titles together with the duplicate certificate of title and such other documents or consents as may be necessary, accompanied with the fees payable under this Act. The person named in any certificate of title or instrument so registered as the grantee or as the proprietor of or having any estate or interest in or power to appoint...

Section Registration of transfers of mortgages and transfers or mortgages of leases, etc. Section On the registration of any transfer of a mortgage and every transfer or mortgage of a lease or sublease, there shall be endorsed on the mortgage, lease or sublease respectively so transferred or mortgaged a memorial of the instrument as described in section 51 , and it shall not be necessary to enter that memorial in the Register Book upon the folium constituted by the existing certificate of title.

Section Instruments entitled to priority according to date of registration Section Every instrument , excepting a transfer, presented for registration may be in duplicate and shall be registered in the order of and as from the time at which the instrument is produced for that purpose, and instruments purporting to affect the same estate or interest shall, notwithstanding any actual or constructive notice, be entitled to priority as between themselves according to the date of registration and not according to the date of the instrument . Upon the registration of any instrument not in duplicate, the Registrar shall file and retain it in the office of titles, and upon the registration of any instrument in duplicate, the Registrar shall file one original and shall deliver the other, hereafter called the duplicate, to the person entitled to it.

Section Leases and mortgages may be in triplicate Section Any lease or mortgage presented for registration may be in triplicate, and upon the registration of that lease or mortgage as provided by section 48 the parts not retained shall be delivered to the person presenting the lease or mortgage for registration; but in every case of registration in triplicate, the word “triplicate” shall be endorsed upon each instrument and initialled by the Registrar and the words “lessor’s part” shall be similarly endorsed and initialled upon one and the words “lessee’s part” upon the other of the two leases returned, and the words “mortgagor’s part” shall be similarly endorsed and initialled upon one and the words “mortgagee’s part” upon the other of the two mortgages returned.

Section No notice of trusts to be entered in Register Book Section The Registrar shall not enter in the Register Book notice of any trust whether express, implied or constructive; but trusts may be declared by any document, and a duplicate or an attested copy of the document may be deposited with the Registrar for safe custody and reference; and the Registrar , should it appear to him or her expedient to do so, may protect in any way he or she deems advisable the rights of the persons for the time being beneficially interested thereunder or thereby required to give any consent; but the rights incident to any proprietorship or any instrument dealing or matter registered under this Act shall not be affected in any manner by the deposit of the duplicate or copy nor shall the duplicate or copy be registered.