LEASES.
Under S. 3(5) of the Land Act, a Leasehold tenure is
a) created either by contract or by operation of law
b) landlord/lessor grants exclusive possession to the tenant/lessee
c) for a period defined, but the period may not refer to a specific date of commencement and a specific date of ending
d) usually but not necessarily for a rent or capital sum known as premium
e) Underwhich landlord/lessor may subject to terms and condition of the lease and having due regard to interests of other party exercise powers of a freehold owner.
Under S. 101 of the Registration of Titles Act,
The proprietor of any freehold or mailo land under the operation of this Act may, subject to any law or agreement for the time being in force, lease that land for any term exceeding three years by signing a lease of it in the form in the Eighth Schedule to this Act; but no lease subject to a mortgage shall be valid or binding against the mortgagee unless he or she has consented in writing to the lease prior to it being registered.
A leasehold tenure is therefore a form of tenure whereby one party grants to another exclusive possession of the land for a period, usually but not necessarily in return for a monetary consideration called rent.
CREATION OF A LEASE
Contract
A lease is created by agreement of the parties or by operation of the law. In Uganda there is no legal requirement for a lease to be in writing, thus a contract to grant a lease may be oral, in writing or both. The agreement may also be inferred form the conduct of the parties. In Mayanja Nkanji v. National Housing Corporation [1972] 1 ULR 37, it was held that a lease may result without express agreement where a person enters possession of land and pays rent, which is accepted by the landowner.
Tenancy by estoppel
The relationship of landlord and tenant may be created by estoppel. Where a person enters onto land as a tenant of another both parties are estopped from denying that a lease exists. It is important that there must be sufficient evidence of the parties conduct from which it could be established that the parties recognized each other as land lord and tenant. In Parhan Jivraj v. Dudley-Whelpadale [1920-29] 3 ULR 193, it was held that payment and acceptance of rent provided the requisite evidence that the defendant and plaintiff regarded each other as landlord and tenant. Similarly in Kanjee Naranjee Ltd v. Tulsidas Dharamshi Ghadialy [1965] EA 171, the court found from the parties correspondences that there was sufficient evidence to establish that the defendant implicitly acknowledged the plaintiff as his landlord from the date he entered possession.
Registration Requirement/ operation of law.
Leases over land registered under the R.T.A are created subject to the provisions of the Act. See S.101 as discussed above.
Under S. 64, R.T.A until such lease is registered pursuant to the provisions in the Act, it is not effective to create an estate in the land. But upon registration a lease is created and the land becomes subject to the covenants of the lease.
Under S.40(5) of the Land Act; mailo and freehold held by non citzens was converted to leasehold for 99 years from 1.06.1975 under the Land Reform Decree.
Unregistered lease. At common law, a purported lease that does not comply with formalities merely operates as a contract whereby the proposed lessor promises to lease and the proposed lessee to take the land subject to the terms of the agreement. Failure by either party to comply with the terms of the agreement could result in an action for damages
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