Lands, housing and urban development minister, Judith Nabakooba has urged locals in Mityana district to be keen on people who present themselves as brokers in land issues, saying these have created a big mess in several land matters.
The minister, who was in the area on March 22, to iron out land issues was dismayed that most of the problems to do with the land in question were brought about by a person posturing himself as a broker.
She explained that these have no right whatsoever to mitigate and apportion land and they should immediately be reported on sight at any of the nearest authorities.
In a meeting she held to ease the tension, Nabakooba urged the residents to be cautious of such people who promise to get them land titles or letters of administration.
“I urge you to be extremely careful of the kind of people who come to you while presenting themselves as brokers. Some of these people will want to take advantage mostly when they learn that you do not have knowledge on certain things and are not financially stable,” she said, adding that such people need to be reported immediately.
She added: “The challenge we usually face is that some of you get into land problems and take long to report the matter to the authorities. Please always report these issues early enough.”
Her visit to the area followed eviction of residents from their homes by a one Ddungu Buuza after obtaining ownership of the pieces of land through deceptive means which included him presenting himself as a land broker.
The minister’s remarks came at the backdrop of a heated land dispute in Namigave village, Kikandwa sub-county in Mityana district where a family of six accused Buuza of deceptively obtaining ownership of their vast land measuring 80, 250 acres and one square mile.
The family said they consulted Buuza who they considered to be a trusted family friend on how to obtain letters of administration.
According to one of the family members identified as David Mpiima, they asked Buuza to help them get land titles for their land.
“Buuza came to us when we had disagreements as a family. We asked him to help us get letters of administration and land titles for our land which he agreed to do,” Mpiima said, adding that they resolved to sell to Buuza 30 acres of land at a cost of sh450m.
Mpiima however said he convinced them to make an agreement with him, showing they had sold the land to him after promising he would pay the money over time.
“We trusted Buuza because he was a family friend. So, we entered into an agreement with him that he had bought 30 acres of land for him. We did not question his motives because we thought he would eventually pay up,” Mpiima said.
At the center of this dispute were accusations and counter accusations of the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Africano Aharikundira, who residents pinned of conspiring with Buuza to defraud their land.
The residents who showed anger during the meeting claimed Aharikundira was protecting and colluding with Buuza to render them homeless.
“We are skeptical of our RDC. We believe he has been working with Ddungu who has been making our life hard by rendering us homeless after defrauding us of our land,” a woman who preferred anonymity told this reporter.
The residents were however urged to keep calm by the Busunju Town Officer-in-charge, John Mafabi, who told them Buuza was arrested with the aim of bringing him to order.
According to Mafabi, Buuza sold to the locals a false narrative that he was closely working with the RDC, something he said was not true. He said this could have prompted them (the residents) into thinking that the RDC was a conspirator.
“I urge you residents to keep calm. When Buuza was arrested from Kikandwa, we felt he needed to be taken to Mityana so we showed him that what he was doing was wrong. Unfortunately, when his file was delayed and we released him, he came up with a narrative that he was closely working with the RDC which was not true. I believe this narrative prompted you into thinking he was working with the RDC which is not true,” he said.
The minister assured the residents that the lands ministry would thoroughly investigate the matter to get to its logical conclusion.
“We are going to investigate these allegations. We need to know how exactly Buuza was able to get the land title,” she said, adding that if it’s indeed true, he defrauded the residents, all the agreements made would be canceled by the High Court.