Private land surveyors in the Teso sub-region are facing criticism for causing significant delays in the land title acquisition process.

This concern was raised during an open-day dialogue meeting on land-related issues, organized by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development’s Teso zonal office in Soroti City.

Since its establishment in 2019, the Soroti zonal office has been processing land titles with the help of a single government land surveyor, who works alongside private land surveyors.

So far, the office has successfully processed over 4,553 land titlesfor individuals.

However, local stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction, particularly with private surveyors who are slow to produce and submit their survey reports to the ministry.

This delay hinders the generation of deed plans and the issuance of land titles.

In addition to delays, some stakeholders have raised concerns about unqualified or fraudulent surveyors, with reports of some charging excessive fees for land title services.

Michael Osele, the Principal Assistant Secretary at the Soroti zonal office, admitted that the office is struggling with delays in land management services, citing the role of private surveyors, area land committees, and district or city land boards as contributors to the inefficiencies.

Robert Adiama Ekaju, the Serere Resident District Commissioner,urgedthe zonal office to be more cautious of individuals who frequent the office pretending to offer land services to locals.

He warned the public to avoid relying on land brokers, as some of them are conmen taking advantage of vulnerable citizens.

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