3-Square Mile Land Sale By Land Lord Affects 5,000 Farmers

The ordinary farmers of three villages; Kilyajjobyo, Bukyonjo, and Kawalala located in Bukyonjo parish, Kitumbi Sub County in Mubende district are currently engulfed in fear over a looming eviction following the sell off their bibanja (land) by a land lord without their knowledge.

Gertrude Lunkuse, the land lord who owns 3-mile property on Block 402 Plot 1, 2, 3 Luzindana Estate resolved to sell it off through IVYS logistics Limited, a company that was charged with managing the sold property.

Selling of land in itself, wouldn’t have been a problem, but residents’ life remains incredibly hard because they can hardly survive in an area which is agriculture-dependent.
Another problem still, is the slashing of residents’ crops that which would provide them with food by the new land owner that acquired it with assistance of police officers attached to Kasanda Police station.

Bernard Matovu, the chairperson Kilyajjobyo village confirmed residents’ fears, telling witnessradio.org that it could even be possible that Lunkuse is not the legitimate owner of the contested land because the only available certificate of title is in the names of Yosamu Ssemugoma.

Ivan Ssewankambo, the principal, IVYS logistics limited, confirmed the sale of the disputed land, but vehemently denied doing it covertly, insisting that they first sat with the affected residents.

However, when eviction takes place on the kind of scale this particular scale is, it morphs from being a tragedy for one household to a social problem that destabilizes communities because getting evicted once makes it more likely that a family will be evicted again.

Therefore, absentee land lords like Lunkuse, should not be able to take away tenants’ livelihood in land because it’s detrimental to the stability of a given community.
Reporting by Experito Kimazi, editing by Deo Walusimbi