Section 77 of Uganda’s Land Act: disturbance allowance is a rule, not a goodwill payment

1. What section 77 actually does

Section 77(2) states that, in addition to compensation assessed under the section, a disturbance allowance of 15 percent is payable, rising to 30 percent if less than six months’ notice to give up vacant possession is given. The words ‘in addition’ matter: the allowance is not a substitute for the assessed compensation. [1]

The rule also makes timing legally material. Notice is not simply a communication activity; it changes the amount payable where the statutory period is shortened. [1] Read with Article 26(2)(b), which conditions the taking on prior payment, the notice date is doing two distinct pieces of legal work at once. [2]

2. What it does not replace

A percentage allowance does not automatically pay for every cost of transition. Under PS-5, the project must still consider replacement cost, relocation assistance, livelihood restoration and the needs of vulnerable people. [3] There is a sharper problem in the same section: section 77(1)(b) values buildings at open market value in urban areas and at depreciated replacement cost in rural areas. [1] Depreciation is precisely what the lender standard forbids — Guidance Note 5 requires replacement cost calculated without deduction for depreciation, so that the claimant can actually acquire an equivalent asset. [4] For a rural structure the statutory measure and the PS-5 measure therefore do not merely differ in emphasis; they diverge by the whole depreciated amount, and a project financed against both must pay the higher and record the gap. The statutory percentage can be one entitlement component while the RAP contains additional measures.

The danger is presentational. If the allowance is folded into one settlement total, the affected person and the auditor cannot see whether it was calculated, whether the notice period was correct or whether other transition measures were omitted. IFC's good-practice guidance treats a disaggregated entitlement statement as the norm for exactly this reason. [5] Note also section 77(1)(c), which excludes from compensation annual crops that could be harvested during the period of notice — another line item that disappears if the award is presented as a single figure. [1]

3. The control a project needs

The register should store the date and content of notice, the date vacant possession is required, the assessed compensation, the applicable percentage, the allowance calculation and any additional assistance. That makes the legal rule reproducible instead of dependent on a signed schedule no one can recalculate.

4. Research gap

There is little published evidence on how often the 15 or 30 percent rule is applied, disputed or confused with other transition costs. A sample of award files and household interviews could test whether the statutory allowance is understood as a legal right and whether it covers the disruption projects assume it covers.