By Charles Katabalwa/Umoja Standard.
Mapeera House, Kampala: Centenary Bank the largest commercial microfinance banks in Uganda has this morning officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Buganda Land Board to enable seamless land title processing for the bank’s customers.
The MOU details that Buganda Land Board upon receipt of recommendation from the bank, will commence surveys and thereafter issuance of titles to Centenary bank customers.
Speaking at the MOU signing, Fabian Kasi the Managing Director Centenary Bank recognized the effort that has gone into finalizing the MOU between Buganda Land Board and Centenary Bank.
In his word, :“Centenary Bank was approached by Buganda Land Board in 2010 to provide financing to clients under the Lease Access Financing Initiative (LAFI) to tenants on Kabaka’s Land to meet the costs of the Land title processing.
The scheme was a success with more than 550 Land Titles processed. It is because of this success that the Bank has decided to sign another MoU with Buganda Land Board to scale up land processing under the CenteLand Loan product to cover all clients in the whole of the Central Region even beyond Kabaka’s Land.
CenteLand loan product is now available in all branches in Uganda and the Bank has also hired more 10 surveyors also to handle the same activity.
He further added:“It’s a pleasure to have this MOU signing with Buganda Land Board as we work towards simplifying the life of our customers seeking to acquire land titles.
This partnership will see both the bank and Buganda synergize in matters pertaining to acquisition of land.
Speaking on behalf of Buganda Land Board, the Chief Executive Officer of Buganda Land Board Simon Kabogoza appreciated Centenary bank for the vote of confidence in the organization’s capacity to handle all land-related matters.
“We consider our-selves a one-stop-centre on land matters because of our expertise in this sector that spans more than 28 years. We promise Centenary Bank and its many clients that we will not break their trust because we have a professional team that will seamlessly conduct surveys and process titles,” Kabogoza said.
“This memorandum serves to concretize the longstanding relationship we have with Centenary Bank under the Lease Access Financing Initiative launched in 2016 by the governor Bank of Uganda the late Tumusiime Mutebile(RIP), where people on Kabaka’s land acquire land titles not by paying a lumpsum but through affordable installments.”
According to Kabogoza, Buganda Land Board now has a fully-fledged department that handles people on land other than Kabaka’s who are the main target of this new arrangement. “Right from land surveying, valuation, to title processing, our team has the competence to deliver efficiently,” he said.
In the same way the speaker of Buganda Owe’kitiibwa Luwagga Mugumbule who represented the Katikiro of Buganda Charles peter Mayiga has pushed the public embrace the opportunity to grab thier titles at low cost.