By Witness Radio Team.
At 62, Edward Balikagira says he should be enjoying the fruits of his old age after working very hard to attain what he owns now. Instead, he finds himself trapped in a prolonged land dispute with a Ugandan minister, whom he accuses of forcibly seizing his land, which has devastated his livelihood and well-being.
“I have stress, which is even affecting my life. I can’t support or manage my extended family,” Mr. Balikagira told Witness Radio in an exclusive interview.
The land under contention is located in Kinyara 2 village, Kigumba subcounty in Kiryandongo district. Balikagira accuses the current minister in charge of Karamoja affairs of unlawfully seizing 100 acres of his land, raising questions about the legal validity of his claim, the land registration process, and the evidence supporting his ownership.
Balikagira, in an interview with Witness Radio, revealed that he obtained full authority over the land after successfully purchasing it from John Bitagassa on 10th February 1996.
“A friend of mine (George Bugumirwa) alerted me about this land, which was on sale in the mid-1990s. It was in a good location, and this prompted me to buy it.” He added.
According to the father of 19, the dispute began during the processing of land title documentation for land linked to Minister Peter Lokeris. At the time, Balikagira was serving as chairperson of the sub-county Area Land Committee overseeing the process.
“We informed residents about the day when boundaries for the minister’s land were to be opened. But during the exercise, the surveyors almost encroached on my land. Later, the minister proposed that I sell my land to him.” Balikagira explained.
Balikagira says he agreed to the arrangement and negotiated a price of 500,000 Ugandan shillings per acre, totaling 50 million shillings. Trusting that payment would eventually be made, he allowed the minister to use the land temporarily while awaiting compensation.
However, according to Balikagira, the promised payment never came. He says he made several trips to Kampala to meet the minister and demand the agreed-upon money, but all his efforts proved futile.
“I had an idea that if the minister pays me, I would then buy another piece of land. I then followed up on the verbal agreement that we had with the minister, but I have yielded nothing; he failed to fulfill his promises, and now he claims he is the rightful owner of the land.” The victim stated.
Before losing his land, Balikagira says agriculture was the main source of his family’s livelihood.
“Maize was one of the major crops I used to grow, and it was very profitable in those days. Besides other crops, I cultivated maize on about 25 acres and, in a season, I could earn up to twenty million Ugandan shillings.” He revealed.
Nearly 19 years after allegedly losing his land, Balikagira says the emotional toll has been overwhelming, leaving him distressed and feeling abandoned by the system he trusted to protect his rights.
“The situation is very terrible. My family has fallen into deep economic distress, forcing me to sell remaining assets, including small plots of land, to meet basic needs such as school fees. This has disrupted my children’s education, with some dropping out of school,” he said.
He added that the prolonged struggle has also taken a heavy emotional and psychological toll, leaving him stressed, financially unstable, and unable to support his extended family adequately. This situation highlights the need for greater awareness of land rights and the legal protections available to landowners like Balikagira who allege unlawful land seizures by powerful officials.
“I have gone to the RDC’s office and many other government offices seeking justice over this matter, but I have not received any help. Maybe it is because an ordinary person is fighting against a minister,” Balikagira said.
The minister, in an interview with a local Television station, denied these claims, asserting that he is the rightful owner of the land and dismissing Balikagira’s allegations as false.
Balikagira pleads with the government, and in particular the president of Uganda, to advise his minister to evacuate his land. He says, “Lokeris knows that he is an honorable minister, and since I am poor, I cannot do anything to him. I therefore request the president to help me so that the minister evacuates my land.”
The Deputy Resident District Commissioner (D/RDC) of Kiryandongo District, Jonathan Akweteireho, told Witness Radio that Balikagira has repeatedly reported the land dispute to his office over the years.
“He says the minister is his neighbor who grabbed his land. He maintains that the minister is not the rightful owner of the land,” Akweteireho said.
According to the deputy RDC, the RDC’s office has already written to the Ministry of the Presidency requesting intervention and investigations into the rightful ownership of the contested land.
“We wrote to our line ministry to take up the matter since we could not directly reach the minister involved. However, we have not yet received any response,” he explained. “We also wrote to the Kiryandongo District Land Board to follow up on the matter and establish the rightful owner of the land, but we have not yet received feedback from them either.”
