The Lease Ran Out After 49 Years. Now a Catholic Archdiocese Wants to Rebuild the Estate Its Tenants Call Home

• More than 100 families live on the Nsambya Housing Estate in Kampala, Uganda
• The estate’s 49-year lease from 1972 expired in August 2021
• The Kampala Archdiocese issued eviction notices so it could demolish and rebuild
• A lands minister halted the evictions and vacated an April 30 deadline

For almost half a century, more than 100 families have made their homes on the Nsambya Housing Estate in Kampala. In early 2026 the Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala told them to leave. Religion Unplugged reported that the church plans to demolish the existing houses and build new housing on the site that would accommodate more residents.

The dispute turns on an old lease. The plot was let on a 49-year term that began on 1 September 1972 and ran out on 31 August 2021. The archdiocese’s land board issued a formal eviction notice on 30 December 2025, followed in February 2026 by a public notice setting a deadline of 30 April. “The Archdiocese will not be responsible for any property remaining on the premises after the deadline,” the notice warned.

Many residents say they have nowhere else to go. Their chairman, Paul Byoma, said the church had “previously assured them that they would not be abruptly evicted upon expiry of their leases.”

The government then intervened. On 19 February 2026, the State Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja, ordered a halt to evictions and directed that the occupants be given security. “Until the land matter is resolved, there will be no eviction,” he said, adding that the April 30 deadline “stands vacated indefinitely.” Details of the archdiocese’s redevelopment plan, including its size, were not disclosed.

Long leases that run out after a generation are a quiet risk in any property market, and Jamaica is no exception. Families who have paid rent or ground rent to a church for decades can easily come to feel like owners, while the church, as landlord, may see the expiry as a chance to use its land differently. Both sides need clarity well before the end date: what happens to the buildings, whether the lease can be renewed, and whether tenants will be offered a place in anything new. Returnees buying or renting on church-owned land should read the lease term carefully and ask what happens when it ends.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com