By Ben Musanje
Cabinet has approved the appointment of four new members to Uganda’s Surveyors Registration Board, bringing fresh professional expertise to the statutory body charged with regulating the surveying profession.
The appointments were approved during a Cabinet sitting on Monday, August 24, 2026, with Minister of ICT and National Guidance Justine Kasule Lumumba announcing the resolutions on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre.
The new Board members are Dr. Sophia Nagujja Mugumbu, Daniel Okwana, Patricia Alowo Namulembwa and Anthony Kyalirizo Mark.
The appointments come at a time when Uganda’s land sector continues to grapple with disputes, incomplete land records, fraudulent transactions and mounting pressure on land from rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development.
The Surveyors Registration Board plays a central role in addressing some of these challenges through the regulation of professionals whose work underpins land ownership, boundary determination, physical planning and infrastructure development.
Under the Surveyors Registration Act, the Board is responsible for registering surveyors, issuing practising certificates, handling professional complaints and disciplinary matters, and enforcing standards within the profession.
The law requires anyone practising surveying in Uganda to be registered and hold a valid annual practising certificate.
Nagujja brings geospatial and land expertise
Among the four appointees is Dr. Sophia Nagujja Mugumbu, a registered surveyor with academic and professional experience in geospatial sciences and land administration.
Mugumbu holds a PhD from Makerere University, where her research focused on land tenure arrangements in refugee settlements. She also holds a master’s degree in Geographic Information Science and Technology and a bachelor’s degree in surveying.
Her academic background comes as the country increasingly relies on accurate geospatial data and digital land information to improve land administration and planning.
Okwana is a registered land surveyor with experience in private-sector surveying practice, while Namulembwa joins the Board as a professional surveyor.
Mark, another of the new appointees, 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.
Board takes on land-sector pressures
The new members take office against a backdrop of persistent weaknesses in Uganda’s land administration system.
Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Judith Nabakooba has previously highlighted low levels of formal land registration, land fraud, boundary disputes and gaps in land documentation as some of the sector’s major challenges.
Nabakooba said formal registration covers only about 20–30 percent of Uganda’s land, with estimates varying depending on the source and methodology. Recent strategic documents, she noted, point to progress from roughly 22 percent towards higher targets.
The large portion of land that remains under customary tenure or is incompletely documented has contributed to boundary disputes, inheritance conflicts and limited access to credit, she said.
Land fraud has also emerged as a growing concern. According to Nabakooba, cases reported to police increased from 397 in 2024 to 663 in 2025, a 67 percent rise, involving fraudulent titles, forgery and related offences.
She has also pointed to double and multiple titling, fraudulent surveys and encroachment on public or protected land as continuing problems despite the digitisation of land processes through the National Land Information System.
The ministry has expanded title issuance, with more than 123,000 titles issued during one recent six-month monitoring period, but Nabakooba has acknowledged that backlogs, district-level capacity gaps and integrity concerns remain.
Surveying at centre of land reforms
The appointment of the four professionals therefore places the Surveyors Registration Board at the centre of efforts to strengthen the integrity of Uganda’s land administration system.
Accurate surveying and reliable cadastral information are essential for establishing land boundaries, securing ownership, supporting physical planning and guiding infrastructure development.
Government has been digitising land administration services through the Uganda National Land Information System in an effort to improve registration and reduce disputes.
Nabakooba has also warned that rapid urbanisation, infrastructure corridors, housing shortages and refugee-related land pressures are increasing demand for reliable land information and professional surveying.
“Accurate professional surveying is foundational to physical planning, construction safety, and public confidence,” she said.
The four new members will serve alongside other members of the Surveyors Registration Board, which is mandated not only to oversee professional registration but also to enforce ethical standards, promote continuing professional development and handle complaints against practitioners.
Their appointment comes as the government seeks to strengthen professional oversight in a sector whose work increasingly intersects with land security, urban planning, infrastructure development and national economic growth. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
