President Yoweri Museveni’s young brother Caleb Akandwanaho, popularly known as Gen Salim Saleh, has spoken out on how much land he owns in Kampala.
Gen Saleh, the Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), also sought to make a case for the streamlining of land management and utilization in Kampala, Uganda’s commercial and administrative capital, as well as across the country.
Sitting in Gulu, norther Uganda, Gen Salim Saleh spoke virtually at the Musevenomics Conference held in Kampala on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
Organizers of the Musevenomics Conference has its focus on value addition, industrialization, as well as the ease and cost of investment and business in Uganda.
Saleh spoke extensively about land issues and distortions affecting Uganda’s economic growth, saying these should be resolved.
Less than a quarter of Uganda’s land is documented but even for that which is titled or registered, corruption, conflicting land tenure systems and disagreeing land management agencies meant owners cannot be certain of ownership.
It is not uncommon for a piece of land to have more than one land title, and for ownership rows to drag on in courts of law.
The conflicts with land agencies like Uganda Land Commission, Buganda Land Board, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), local governments and private owners also complicate the bureaucracy.
Salim Saleh says that land is an important factor of production whose distortion means that there will be a ripple effect in the economy, affecting government development programs and investment.
“If land is a distorted factor of production, then it distorts everything else, from housing, infrastructure, industry, and investment,” Gen Salim Saleh submitted from Gulu.
“We can’t talk about stimulus or growth if we do not know who owns the land where that growth must happen.”
Museveni’s brother was also concerned about agencies like Uganda Land Commission, National Forestry Authority (NFA) and National Environment Management Authority (Nema) which continue to hold swathes of land in trust but have failed to utilize the same to produce goods.
“Sometimes it is these very agencies that create land conflicts,” said Salim Saleh.
“They are supposed to protect the land, but they don’t even know how to use it well.”
Salim Saleh said a study needs to be urgently done to find out “who owns what land in Kampala” so that the lands sector can be streamlined and stops being a field of speculation.
As part of efforts to establish the true ownership of Kampala, Salim Saleh further revealed, he has teamed up with land governance expert Prof John Kigula to do a study on land ownership in Kampala.
Already, he went on to say, Prof Kigula had finalized a draft concept note (advisory note) and he and Gen Salim Saleh were looking for money to conduct research with the intention of finding out “who owns Kampala?”
Salim Saleh also used his submission to speak on how much land he owns in Kampala. He spoke about reports that he owns half of Kampala.
“Everybody thinks I own half of Kampala when in reality I own, I think, maximum only about two acres,” said Saleh.
Gen Salim Saleh is an influential ‘official’ in Museveni’s government, doing work related to poverty alleviation and politics.
He has previously warned against tribalism, saying it can destroy the country, and recently apologized on behalf of his nephew Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba after he ‘attacked’ EU ambassadors, as reported Here and There.
On ownership, there are normally speculations on who owns what. A few years ago, opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye was said to own a top hotel in Kampala and other prime properties until he came out to clarify on the rumors, as reported Here.
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