Cabinet has approved the appointment of four new members to the Surveyors Registration Board, the statutory body responsible for regulating the surveying profession in Uganda.
The appointments were approved during a Cabinet sitting on Monday, August 24, 2026, according to Justine Kasule Lumumba, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, who communicated Cabinet resolutions this week.
The new members are Dr. Sophia Nagujja Mugumbu, Daniel Okwana, Patricia Alowo Namulembwa and Anthony Kyalirizo Mark.
The Surveyors Registration Board is responsible for registering and regulating surveyors and overseeing professional standards in the sector.
Lumumba said the appointments are part of government efforts to strengthen professional regulation in a sector that plays a critical role in land administration and national development.
The Board operates under the Surveyors Registration Act, which provides for the regulation and control of the surveying profession and the activities of registered practitioners.
Its responsibilities include registration of surveyors, issuance of practising certificates, handling professional complaints and disciplinary matters, and enforcement of professional standards.
The law requires people practising surveying in Uganda to be registered and hold a valid annual practising certificate.
Dr. Mugumbu is a registered surveyor with academic and professional experience in geospatial sciences and land administration.
She holds a PhD from Makerere University focusing on land tenure arrangements in refugee settlements, as well as a master’s degree in Geographic Information Science and Technology and a bachelor’s degree in surveying.
Okwana is a registered land surveyor with experience in private-sector surveying practice, while Namulembwa joins the Board as a professional surveyor.
Mark is a registered mining and hydrological surveyor and a Fellow of the Institution of Surveyors of Uganda.
He has qualifications in geology and chemistry, hydrology and water resources, and oil, gas and energy management, and works with the Ministry of Water and Environment.
The appointments come as Uganda continues to face challenges in land administration, including land disputes, incomplete land records, fraudulent transactions and growing pressure on land arising from urbanisation and infrastructure development.
Accurate surveying and reliable cadastral information are critical to establishing land boundaries, securing ownership, supporting physical planning and facilitating infrastructure development.
The government has also been digitising land administration services through the Uganda National Land Information System as part of efforts to improve land registration and reduce disputes.
The new members will serve on the Surveyors Registration Board alongside other members responsible for regulating the profession and advising government on matters relating to surveying.
The Board’s work covers professional registration, enforcement of ethical standards, continuing professional development and handling complaints against practitioners.
Judith Nabakooba, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development said the land sector in Uganda faces well-documented strains. “Formal registration covers only about 20–30 percent of the country’s land (estimates vary by source and methodology; recent strategic documents cite progress from roughly 22 percent toward higher targets),” she revealed.
According to Nabakooba, the majority of the sector remains under customary tenure or incompletely documented, contributing to boundary disputes, inheritance conflicts, and limited access to credit.
She said land fraud cases reported to police rose sharply to 663 in 2025 from 397 in 2024, a 67 percent increase, encompassing fraudulent titles, forgery, and related offences.
“Double and multiple titling, fraudulent surveys, and encroachment on public or protected land persist as challenges, even though the National Land Information System has digitized processes and Ministry Zonal Offices handle large volumes of transactions.
She said title issuance has expanded (over 123,000 in one recent half-year period in monitoring data. “Yet backlogs, capacity gaps at district levels, and integrity issues continue,” she noted.
“Urbanization, infrastructure corridors, housing deficits, and refugee-related land pressures further elevate the stakes. Accurate professional surveying is foundational to physical planning, construction safety, and public confidence,” Nabakooba added-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
