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Livelihood, Land And Investment

IGG blocks giveaway of Bugolobi children’s park

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KAMPALA. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has warned Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) against giving away Kiswa Children’s Recreation Centre at Kataza in Bugolobi to a developer.

The contentious park, which measures 0.245 hectares, sits on Plot 17 Bunyonyi Drive, Kataza-Bugolobi road in Nakawa Division. It is the only children’s public park in the division.
The land was allegedly given away to Giga Reality Association despite earlier warning by the then IGG, Justice Faith Mwondah, in 2009 against the same.

On May 14, the deputy IGG, Mr George Bamugemereire, wrote to the KCCA executive director, Ms Jennifer Musisi, querying the manner in which the land had been allegedly given away.
“…this is to request you not to authorise any new developments on the said property until you have received further directions from this office,” reads in part the letter, also copied to Mr Moses Atwine, the KCCA director of physical planning.

Mr Bamugemereire’s letter, a copy also Daily Monitor has seen, was triggered by a petition by area leaders and residents who sought an inquiry into the alleged giveaway of the land, which they claim has caused uncertainty over the children’s park.
This land has been at the centre of controversy since 2006 when it was first leased out to Kashari-Buhweju Farmers Ltd.

On March 15, 2006, Kampala District Land Board (KDLB) gave a five- year initial lease to Kashari-Buhweju Farmers Ltd. After five years, this lease would be extended to 49 years.
According to documents, the firm would pay a premium of Shs10m to the then Kampala City Council (KCC) in Nakawa Division and ground rent of Shs200,000 per annum to KDLB, but this would be revisable every year.

Red flag
However, area residents raised the red flag over the transaction, claiming that the lease was fraudulently offered to the firm.
They petitioned the then IGG Justice Faith Mwondha in 2009, who directed the then KCC town clerk, Ms Ruth Kijjambu, to cancel the lease.
“…in line with the rescission of the lease, and the irregularities and fraudulent misrepresentations listed above, the Registrar of Titles is directed to cancel the certificate granted to Kashari-Buhweju Farmers Ltd,” Justice Mwondha wrote.

She also directed KCC should redevelop the land into a children’s park. Despite the IGG’s directive, Mr Moses Atwine, the current KCCA director of physical planning, okayed the redevelopment of the contested land to Giga Reality Association Ltd on February 3, 2016 hence sparking a protest from area leaders and residents.
According to Mr Atwine’s letter, Giga Reality Association Ltd would construct a chain link fence for one year.

Residents protest
This reporter has learnt that residents have since blocked Giga Reality Association Ltd from redeveloping the land until the matter is resolved by relevant authorities.
The residents want the land to be maintained as a children’s park.
“This is the only public park where our children could meet and play but efforts to recover it have since hit a snag because there are some influential government officials behind this deal,” said Mr Stephen Ssegawa, an area resident.

Mr Moses Okwera, the Nakawa II councillor, told Daily Monitor that it is unfair for the children’s recreational park to be given out to an investor without any justification.
“We want the IGG to get to the bottom of this matter because we can’t afford to lose this only public recreational park in Nakawa. We even chased away the developer who had fenced it off,” he said.

Investigation 
Mr Charles Ouma, the KCCA acting director of legal affairs, told the KCCA public accounts committee (Pac) recently, that the matter has since been reported to police for further investigations.
“The giveaway of that land in Kiswa is currently being probed by the Criminal Investigations Department at Kibuli and when the probe is done, we shall furnish this committee [Pac] with a report, but we are doing what we can to save public land,” he said.

Other Kampala recreational parks whose management has been queried by city leaders are Centenary Park, children’s park in Kamwokya, Jubilee gardens (Sheraton), Constitution Square and Railway grounds.

Report. Last year, KCCA public accounts committee released a report, which queried the manner in which city public land was given out. It stated that KCCA was losing a lot of revenue in land battles.

Source: Daily Monitor

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Livelihood, Land And Investment

Over 500 Kapapi families in Hoima district remain stranded after the district security committee fails to resettle them back on their land as directed by the minister.

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By Witness Radio team.

Hundreds of families, violently evicted from their land in Kapapi and Kiganja sub-counties in Hoima district are still pondering their next moves as efforts to return to their grabbed land remain ambiguous.

The directive came after Hoima district police and private guards from Magnum, a private security company raided people’s homes in Waaki North, Kapapi Central, Waaki South, Runga, and Kiryatete villages in Kapapi and Kiganja sub-counties, Hoima district on 10th of February 2023 at 1:00 am.

The violent scenes left hundreds of children with scores of injuries, houses were torched, and property worth billions was destroyed.  The animals such as goats, sheep, and cows were butchered and others were looted.

On 22nd of February 2023, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Honorable Judith Nabakooba while addressing a meeting in Rukola village Kapapi sub-county, Hoima district directed the security committee to return the victim villagers back to their land.

She considered the eviction unlawful since it was conducted at night and without a court order.

In that meeting, area leaders, Hoima district police and Hoima Resident District commissioner, Mr. Rogers Mbabazi, Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Mr. Michael Kyakashari were in attendance.

The victim community accuses a group of people including Ndahura Gafayo, Aston Muhwezi, David Mpora, Monica Rwashadika, Agaba, and Wilber Kiiza of being responsible for the land grab.

The grabbed land is situated at the shores of Lake Albert adjacent to the Kabaale parish in Buseruka Sub-county where the greenfield oil refinery is to be established. In April 2018, the government selected the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC) as the private sector investment to finance, develop, construct, and operate the Greenfield oil Refinery estimated to cost $4b.

According to the Witness Radio research team, ever since the directive was made instead, there’s increased human rights violations including arbitrary arrests, detentions and threats, and intimidation against victims of residents encamped at Rwenyana Church to vacate.

The evictees report that after the minister’s directive, three community members include; Mbombo Steven, and Kalongo Steven have been arrested, charged, and remanded to Hoima government prison.

“Our families encamping at church and waiting to be resettled back as directed by the Minister are facing further threats and intimidation to go away. They say they don’t want us at the church. Some of us are currently in hiding for fear of arbitrary arrests or kidnaps.” A community member who preferred to be called Enos due to fear of retaliation told Witness Radio.

He further added that the community is living at the mercy of God, with no food, or shelter, and predicted an uncertain future for their children since they are not attending school.

“Families are scattered in different centers while others continue to live with their relatives. However essential services such as shelter, food, health services, and education for their children remain a challenge. These people found us on land and started claiming ownership of this land. Imagine when we went for a search at a land registry, we found out that they only have a title of 2 acres but everyone knows we have been on this land for over 30 years. We have people who were born on this land.” He added.

Witness Radio contacted Mr. Rogers Mbabazi, Hoima Resident District Commissioner who heads the district security committee, to understand how far the committee had gone with the implementation of the minister’s directive. He instead referred us to his Deputy Mr. Michael Kyakashari.

Mr. Michael Kyakashari, when asked about the status of the directive, told our reporter that he did not have an answer for him before he hung up.

“I don’t have an answer for you” He repeatedly said.

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Livelihood, Land And Investment

State House Anti-Corruption Unit nets a surveyor implicated in Mubende district land-grabs

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Mr. Mafumu Paul and his accomplices at police after their arrest.

By Witness Radio Team,

The State House Anti-corruption Unit has arrested an alleged landgrabber in Mubende district whose evictions have rendered masses homeless.

Mr. Mafumu Paul, a Mubende based surveyor is accused of using police and conniving with some officials in the Lands ministry to issue forged titles that have been instrumental in illegal land evictions in the districts of Mubende, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi.

The alleged land grabber has been arrested alongside two of his farm workers who include Ssenyondo Ronald and Sseruyange Ben.

The arrest follows complaints of grave human rights abuses to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the minister for lands housing and urban development. In response, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, the Hon. Judith Nabakooba Nalule, visited the families whose crops were sprayed with chemicals by Mafumu’s workers. She later requested the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to intervene and investigate circumstances under which forged certificate of land titles are issued and used to forcefully evict local communities off their land. She further directed the Mubende Police to oversee the arrest of the Mufumu.

He has been implicated in instigating unlawful arrests, beating people, denying communities to access clean water sources, razing-down people’s houses and gardens, fly-grazing, and spraying their crops with chemicals in order to evict them from their land.

In one of the recent cases, on the 14th of January 2023, violence was meted out on the residents in Nalyankanja village, Kyenda Town Council in Mubende district. Mafumu is said to have ordered his workers to spray their crops, an act they believe has escalated hunger in their area. The crops sprayed with chemicals included: sweet potatoes, pineapples, coffee, bananas, and Cassava.

According to Witness Radio research, Mafumu has been accused of violently evicting over 17 families since 2018 from their land measuring approximately 248 acres.

The alleged land grabber and his accomplices are currently being detained at Mubende Police.

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Livelihood, Land And Investment

Kiboga district senior lands officer is arrested and detained over land fraud.

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By Witness Radio Team

A joint team of investigators has arrested Kiboga district senior lands officer for allegedly committing cases of land fraud, Witness Radio has established.

The operation led by the Deputy Resident District Commissioner (D/RDC) of Kiboga district, Mr. Mathias Lutwama, was jointly carried out by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and three officers attached to the Central Police station of Kiboga district.

According to Lutwama, the suspect has been on the run after deliberately refusing to respond to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the police summons.

Mrs. Flavia Kizito, a Senior Secretary to the Kiboga district Land Board before the arrest, leased land belonging to a family of the late Edirisa Kyakulagira respectively in 2018 and 2019 to three different leasees without their knowledge.

The three people including Mr. James Kagolo, One Mateka, and Mr. Kayondo Moses were separately given 1080 acres of land by Kiboga District Land Board.

In the process of taking possession of the grabbed land by different leasees, 3 members of a victim family (occupying the piece of the land) were shot at and injured by armed agents of the agents of leasees while protesting an illegal eviction.

“The shootings happened differently, but the recent one was in February 2022, I was shot at, in the palm and the armpit by Mr. Kagolo James. The incident happened when the operators of my tractor that were cultivating our orchard of mangoes were stopped from cultivating and got arrested. So, they called and I had to rush to the farm to rescue my workers. Upon reaching the farm, one Kagolo who was accompanied by armed gangs with machetes asked me why I was cultivating their land. In response, I told him that this has been our land which angered him. He coked the gun and shot me in the palm and armpit. I lost a finger in the process.”  Mr. Nyanja Erikka, one of the victims revealed.

Eyewitnesses told Witness Radio that the victim (Nyanja) who was down and bleeding was handcuffed, and arrested by Kiboga police on charges of illegally possessing a firearm, before being driven to Kiboga main hospital to get treatment first.

The following day, the witness further narrates that Nyanja was put off the handcuffs and given a police bond to get treatment.

Our investigations further reveal that victim families have since 2020 been facing violent and forced evictions from the alleged land grabbers during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Violence intensified as houses got torched and mangoes plantations got cut down.

Our research team further established that Kagolo and one Mateka, during COVID-19 lockdowns, they brought over 1000 heads of cattle and started grazing them on people’s farms. The cattle keepers were allegedly armed with rifles for about a month.

The same Land Board of Kiboga district on December 2022 got suspended by the Minister of State for lands Dr. Sam Mayanja over land fraud.

Currently, the suspect is being held at the Kiboga district Central Police Station.

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