Connect with us

WITNESS RADIO MILESTONES

Over 2000 residents face eviction in Mubende, blame District Land Board

Published

on

By Najibu Mulema

Land wrangles in Uganda have become the worst nightmare for many poor
Ugandans whose land is always grabbed by the few ‘privileged’
untouchable rich men and women.

Consequently, more than 2000 residents in Lwebigaji village, Busale Ward
in Mubende Municipality no longer sleep to their expectations since they
spend most of their days and nights in fear of being evicted from their
land which they have lived on for decades.

The land in question sits on 226.05 hectares (almost a mile) and is
located in Kisuna, Buwekula Block 224/plot 28.

The affected residents accuse Mubende District Land Board for being the
reason behind their misery.

According to Grace Nantubilo, Councilor Busale Ward, the District Land
Board conspired with a one Semwogerere Deo Mutyaba to grab the public
land belonging to the residents in Lwebigaji.

Nantubilo said she doesn’t find a clear explanation as to why officials
in the land board had to sell and issue a land title to Mutyaba who
doesn’t even own a plot of land in the area yet it is very clear that
before issuing a land title to any person, the District Land Board has
to first give residents on the public land an opportunity to secure a
title for themselves if they have the capability.

Residents get to know that their land was sold;
In a bid to secure a title for their land, residents through their
Communal Land Association known as Lwebigaji Citizen Group went to the
District Land Board offices but to their dismay, the board officials
told them that the title they are pushing for has already been given out
to Mutyaba on 26 November, 2015.

This new development blew off the minds of the discontented residents
because on 24 September, 2013 they had checked in with the Board and
found out their land was safe without complaints. On that very day the
board officials even gave them an Instruction of Survey (IS).

Angry residents protest, District Executive calls for a meeting;
On learning that their land had been grabbed by Mutyaba, residents
decried for rescue and in the due course a meeting which was chaired by
the Mubende LC5 Chairperson, Kibuka Francis Amooti was called for.
It was attended by the district Executive, District Land Board
officials, Technical side of land, residents and Deo Mutyaba.

In the meeting, residents accused the Land board officials and Mutyaba
over conspiracy to grab their land.

In defense, Mutyaba defended himself saying that he acquired the land
through lease way back in 1978 and that what he did in 2015 was renewing.

However, due to heated grilling, Mutyaba admitted that he just stole the
land from the National Forestry Association (NFA) which also had the
intention of grabbing the land for free.

The accused added that he did it out of a good heart since later he was
willing to sit on a round table with the residents so that they could
negotiate on the land issue.

On the other hand, the District Land Board after a through homework
founded out that Mutyaba has given them wrong information in the first
place citing that he used forged papers to blindfold the board which
prompted the officials to issue a land title to the accused at the
expense of the accused.

“In the Mutyaba’s lease papers, all the witnesses which signed on it
died long time ago before the actual dates on the papers, so how did
they sign when they were already dead?” Nantubilo inquired.

The District Land Board admitted its mistake and it called for the
cancellation of Mutyaba’s land title.
Resolution reached;

On 6 September, 2016, Board sat and through its Secretary, Emmanuel
Sempala passed a resolution to cancel the ‘fake’ land title belonging to
Deo Mutyaba as well as honoring it to the rightful owners.

On 20 September, 2016, District Land Board chaired another meeting and
the issued a letter ordering the cancellation of the land title in
question and the letter was addressed to the Commission of Land
Registration and Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Planning.

Mission unaccomplished;
When a letter ordering cancellation of the land title was passed,
residents were overwhelmed with unending hope, most of them thought
that they had at least won the battle little did they know that a letter
was ‘nothing’ to the privileged land grabber. Even up to now the
residents’ cry is not yet honored.

According to one of the dissatisfied residents, Kimazzi Experito
Kitikyamuwogo, they don’t really understand why the land title is not
yet cancelled yet as residents have passed through the necessary
procedures to make sure that they regain what rightfully belongs to them.

“We cannot afford to lose our land to just one man who just came from
nowhere to steal our land; we call upon the responsible authorities to
come for our rescue,”

Apparently, the affected residents are living in total fear thinking any
time they are going to be displaced by the so called land ‘thieves’
worst still they no longer carry out any farming activities on their
land meaning that if the issue is not addressed as soon as possible,
residents are likely to suffer from economical and social atrocities.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

PETITIONS

Complaint against unprofessional conduct of the DPC Kiryandongo district for aiding and abetting land grabbing in kiryandongo district.

Published

on

The Commandant,

Professional Standards Unit, Uganda Police-Kampala.

Dear Sir/Madam;

RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF THE DPC KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT FOR AIDING AND ABETTING LAND GRABBING IN NYAMUTENDE KITWARA PARISH KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT AND CARRYING OUT ILLEGAL ARRESTS AND DETENTION OF INNOCENT RESIDENTS/ BIBANJA OWNERS FOR PROTESTING AGAINST THE ILLEGAL EVICTION FROM THEIR LAND.

We act for and behalf of the Lawful and bonafide occupants of Land described as LRV MAS 2 FOLIO 8 BLOCK 8 PLOT 22 (FORMERLY KNOWN AS RANCH 22).

Our Clients are residents of Nyamutende Village, Kitwara Parish in Kiryandongo District where they have lived for more than 30 years and sometime in 2017, they applied for a lease of the said Land to Kiryandongo District Land Board through the Directorate of Land Matters State House.

As they were still awaiting their Application to be processed, they were shocked to establish that the said land had been instead leased to and registered in the names of Isingoma Julius, Mwesige Simon, John Musokota William, Tumusiime Gerald, Wabwire Messener Gabriel, Ocema Richard and Wilson Shikhama, some of whom were not known to the Complainants. A copy of the Search is attached hereto

Our clients protested the above action and appealed to relevant offices, but were shocked to discover that the above persons had gone ahead and sold the same to a one Maseruka Robert.

Aggrieved by these actions, the Complainants appealed to the RDC who advised them to institute proceedings against the said persons, and assigned them a one Mbabazi Samuel to assist them to that effect. The said Mbabazi accordingly filed Civil Suit Noa 46 of 2019 against tne said registered proprietors at Masindi High Court challenging the illegal and fraudulent registration, sale and transfer of the subject land to Maseruka Robert.

While awaiting the progress of the case mentioned hereinabove, the Complainants were surprised to find that the said Mbabazi, instead of assisting them, he went into a consent settling the said suit on their behalf without their knowledge or consent. A copy of the Consent is attached hereto.

Among the terms of the said consent Judgment was that the residents would be compensated without specifying how much and would in return vacate the Land.

As if that was not enough, Maseruka Robert and Mbabazi Samuel are going ahead to execute the said Consent Judgment by forcefully evicting the occupants without compensation which has prompted the complainants to challenge the said Consent by applying for its review and setting aside at Masindi High Court which is coming up for hearing on the 29th March 2023. A copy of the Application is attached hereto.

Sensing the imminent threat of eviction, we also filed an application for interim stay of execution of the said consent to avoid rendering their application for review nugatory but unfortunately the same could not be heard on the date it was fixed for hearing (6th February 2023). A copy of the Application is attached hereto

On Thursday last week, three tractors being operated by 6 workers of a one Mbabazi Samuel [the very person who had been entrusted to represent our Clients to secure their Land through Civil Suit No.46 of 2019] encroached close to 50 acres of our Clients’ land and started ploughing it but our Client’s protested and chased them away.

We have however been shocked to receive information from our Clients that on Sunday at Mid night, 3 police patrols invaded the community in the night and arrested community members; Mulenje Jack, Steven Kagyenji, Mulekwa David, Ntambala Geoffrey, Tumukunde Isaac 15 years, Kanunu Innocent, Mukombozi Frank, Kuzara, Rwamunyankole Enock, and took them to Kiryandongo Police Station where they are currently detained.

We strongly protest the illegal arrests and detention of our Clients as this is a carefully orchestrated land grabbing scheme by Maseruka Robert and Mbabazi Samuel who are  receiving support from the DPC Kiryandongo.

The purpose of this Letter therefore is to request your good office to investigate the misconduct, abuse of office and unprofessionalism of the said DPC Kiryandongo District and all his involvement in the land grabbing schemes on land formerly known as Ranch 22.

Looking forward to your urgent intervention,

C.C The Head Police Land Protection Unit Police Head Quarters Naguru

CC The RDC Kiryandongo District

CC The Chairman LCVKityadongo District

CC The Regional Police CommanderAlbertine Region

Continue Reading

WITNESS RADIO MILESTONES

The Executive Director of Witness Radio Uganda talks about the role played by Witness Radio in protecting communities affected by large-scale agribusinesses in Kiryandongo district in an interview with the ILC.

Published

on

Continue Reading

WITNESS RADIO MILESTONES

Witness Radio Uganda wins the best CSO land rights defenders award at the National Land Forum Awards.

Published

on

By Witness Radio Team

Uganda’s leading land and environmental rights watchdog, Witness Radio has been awarded the best CSO land rights defender award 2022 in the recently concluded National Land Forum Awards held last week at Mestil hotel in Kampala.

Witness Radio’s executive Director, Jeff Wokulira Ssebaggala attributed the award to the community land and environmental rights defenders who stand up against the intimidation and different forms of harassment from land grabbers (economically powerful and politically connected companies and individual investors).

“This is an award for defenders at a community level. They work in very deadly environments filled with harassment, torture, death threats, arrest, trumped-up charges, and kidnaps among others to advocate for community land and environment rights. This is happening at a spate where criminalization and silencing of  community land rights defenders are at increase.” Jeff added.

The award has come at a time when hundreds of Ugandans in different parts of the country are accessing services provided by the organization ranging from legal service provisions, non-judicial mechanism engagements, empowerment to help them understand their rights, and using the same knowledge to use the same skills to push back against illegal and forced evictions

The chairman of the organizing committee of the second National Land Forum, Mr. Jimmy Ochom noted some progress on legislation in Uganda’s land Governance. He cited growing inequalities on land where the poor are more vulnerable.

During awards, the state minister for housing, Hon persis Namuganza revealed that the government approved the plan for 2018-2040 that maps the land use in the country.

According to the minister, the government had identified land for settlement, game reserves, wildlife, arable land for farming, and water bodies among others in the plan which she said was passed a few weeks ago.

The event was organized by Oxfam and partners and provided a platform for discussions by the different actors in the land sector on issues around land governance, including land rights, land administration, and land governance for improved collaboration, cooperation between the actors, and improved land service delivery for Ugandans under a theme “Taking stock of the National Land Policy in addressing Land inequality in addressing Land inequality in Uganda.”

Other categories of awards that were won by different organizations and individuals including Mr. Eddie Nsamba-Gayiiya for his contribution to research on land rights, Justice Centers Uganda for Promoting Access to Land Justice, and Mr. Henry Harrison Irumba for Championing Legal Reforms among others.

Continue Reading

Resource Center

Legal Framework

READ BY CATEGORY

Facebook

Newsletter

Subscribe to Witness Radio's newsletter



Trending

Subscribe to Witness Radio's newsletter