Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has calmed the people of Kitumbi-Bukuya in Kasanda district about the rightful owners of their contested land.
This was after land comprising six villages was being secretly claimed by unidentified people at the district that kept the bibanja holders on their toes for fear of eviction.
Government gave the land in question to Drake Ndiwalana and Athanasius Babera Kaihura for 44 years to be with the lease. The land was surveyed on Block 493 Plot 3 and is 1214 hectares with a lease volume of 130 folio 24.
The title to the land was subsequently given to the two on October 24, 1978 under instrument number 23358 with conditions of farming and ranching as the only activities to be carried out on the land.
The lease that ended on September 31, 2021 gave a leeway for land grabbers to begin the process of fraudulently acquiring ownership of the land through the different committees like the Area Land Committees and the District land Board to get titles.
Dr Micheal Bukenya, the Bukuya County MP shared that people were living in fear since someone else had applied for the said land in the names of the children of the late Ndiwalana but the district remained tight lipped about this person.
He revealed that as the area legislator, he had to move fast and seek clarity from the lands minister to stop the would- be eviction of his constituents.
“There is no single activity on the land, we think someone wants to take it on behalf of the others. My constituents have been asking me to defend their land from being grabbed,” he said.
The MP shared that it is such kinds of impunity that impedes the implementation of the NRM manifesto which is geared towards helping the people from the grass root.
However, in a meeting she held in Lubaari Village in Kasanda district, Nabakooba said that this land at Kitumbi was given to those who asked for it by the Uganda Land Commission (ULC), meaning the land belongs to the government and those that were applying for it did it wrongfully.
“RDC, tell Mubende District that what they are doing is wrong, this is government land and not public land. It was the Uganda Land Commission that gave this lease and not the district. This land is going back into the hands of ULC and it will come on ground and implement the presidential directive,” she said.
Nabakooba added: “On my way here, I told the president that I was coming and I shared with him that according to the documents I have, the land belongs to the Uganda Land Commission and not the district, he told me if it belongs to ULC, tell my people that I have given it to them,” she told the locals, throwing them into a jubilation mood.
The minister said what she is going to do is to put into action the presidential directive to see that the people get their land since the president directed her to send a team from the Uganda Land Commission to open boundaries to survey the land under the guidance of the district and RDC so people know how much each of them has and what belongs to the district.
“We shall do this with the RDC after I have written to them (ULC) informing them of the presidential directive on this land. I urge you to work closely with the RDC and your MP who has been fighting for your land rights. Remain calm, we shall continue working with your leaders to ensure that your issue is expedited to the very end.”
