MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

Owori, Tororo locals square off over land.

Published

3 years ago

May 30, 2022

Fashion designer and businesswoman Sylvia Owori at an Operation Wealth Creation function in 2021.

The Director of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) and about 200 families are embroiled in dispute over the ownership of about 100 acres of land in Nyangore Sub-county, Tororo District.

Ms Sylvia Owori’s accusers told Sunday Monitor that the OWC top official who also doubles as boss of the Zipa Modelling Agency used her newfound power to grab their land, a charge she vehemently denies.

The land in dispute is located about five miles from Tororo Town, on the Tororo Mbale Road. It is also in close proximity to Mukuju Teacher Training College and both Simba and Hima Cement plants.

Ms Owori says “encroachers” have attempted to take over large swaths of land that “has my father’s grave, my grandmother’s grave and my grandfather’s grave.”

She added: “It is not true [that I am grabbing their land]. This is my ancestral land…these people are trying to claim that land,” Ms Owori told Sunday Monitor.

A September 30, 2020 brief signed by three of her accusers—Emmanuel Otedo, Oburu Silver and Obonyo Robert Ochwo—alleges that Ms Owori forcefully accessed their land on July 31, 2020.

They add that she did this while in the company of armed escorts, who she used to intimidate and harass them.

Ms Owori admits to moving around with armed escorts, but denies using them to intimidate her accusers.

“I am a Director of OWC and I am entitled to a driver and a bodyguard. I have only two security officers. Two security officers cannot go and threaten an entire village. And even if so, there should have been a report at the police that these officers did this or that,” Ms Owori argues.

It is further alleged that Ms Owori had on the same day attempted to forcefully have the land surveyed. This triggered commotion in the village, forcing the surveyor to back down.

The matter, according to the brief, was reported to the Mile 5 police station where the people whose land had been the subject of the alleged trespass recorded statements.

The development compelled the Rubongi Sub-county chairperson to convene a September 2, 2020 meeting where Ms Owori laid claim to the land in dispute.

“During the meeting Sylvia Owori said that she had come to reclaim her father’s land and was therefore in the company of armed personnel for self-protection. The statement surprised us the bonafide owners of the land because to the best of our knowledge, the land she is claiming is not hers nor her late fathers” the brief reads in part.

Owori insists that the land in question is ancestral land that was acquired by her late grandfather.

“This land was acquired by my grandfather in 1915 during the colonial days. He was a chief. When he died in 1942, he left the land with my father George William Owori,” she told Sunday Monitor.

However, whereas her accusers concede that her grandfather was a chief in the area and was buried there, he was not the only chief that was buried there. They add that amongst all descendants of late chiefs buried there, it is only Ms Owori who is laying claim to the land.

The Owori’s contestations over the land are said to date back to about 1970 when Mr George William Owori—Sylvia’s late father—filed a suit. It was reportedly dismissed on January 2, 1978.

“We were therefore surprised when this lady (Sylvia Owori) raised a matter which had been successfully handled by the courts of law more than 40 years ago,” they wrote.

Ms Owori, however, disputes that version of events, insisting that the court had ruled in her late father’s favour.

“He got a court ruling in his favour and they were given three months to leave or face eviction. These people continued to grab the land. In March 1980, when he was trying to put up a fight, he was shot [and killed] because of the same land,” she said.

Ms Owori is perplexed by her accusers’ decision to petition Parliament over the land when the matter is still the subject of court proceedings in Tororo.

“If they are sure that this is their land, why don’t they wait for the court process to run its course? Why don’t they wait for the outcome of court? If they are truly the rightful owners then the court will determine in their favour,” she said.

The matter was the subject of a May 6 petition sent to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, through the area MP—Dr Emmanuel Otaala.

It was tabled before Parliament by the Tororo District Woman MP, Ms Sarah Opendi. Ms Among directed the Minister for Lands and Urban Development to investigate the matter.

Ms Opendi told Parliament last week that Ms Owori had blocked people from accessing a school and a church located on the disputed land.

“The petitioners have sought assistance from this land grabber, but to no avail. Her security personnel have beaten up people and now they have come seeking Parliament’s intervention to rescue them from land grabbers,” she told Parliament.

Ms Owori, however, dismissed Ms Opendi’s statement in the House and instead accused the lawmaker of politicking.

“Someone wants to tarnish my name because of politics. She thinks that since I am on the ground meetings with youth and women leaders, I want to contest for woman MP,” Ms Owori said, adding, “I am showing them things to do with Operation Wealth Creation.”

Original Source: Daily Monitor

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

20 witness to testify against ex-land registration commissioner Mugaino

Published

4 days ago

July 24, 2025

witnessradio.org

Mugaino is battling charges of abuse of office and corruption over allegations of irregular cancellation of certificates of title for several pieces of land in Kampala city.

The Inspectorate of Government (IG) says about 20 witnesses are expected to testify against former Commissioner for Land Registration Baker Mugaino.

Mugaino is battling charges of abuse of office and corruption over allegations of irregular cancellation of certificates of title for several pieces of land in Kampala city.

The cancelled titles belong to Tropical Bank, Namayiba Park Hotel and businessman Gerald Akugizibwe.

The titles are for land comprising Kibuga Block 12 plots 658, 659, and 665 in Kisenyi; Kibuga Block 4 plot 152 in Namirembe, and Kyadondo Block 244 plot 2506 in Kisugu, Kampala district.

In a statement released on July 23, 2025, IG says the 20 complaints including Tropical Bank officials have recorded witness statements and are ready to give evidence against Mugaino in court.

The statement was released following an article published in the Independent Magazine titled, “IGG abusing her office”.

The IG said the article contains unfounded allegations against the person of the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya Turwomwe, questioning her decision to interdict, investigate and later prosecute Mugaino.

According to the IG, it is standard procedure for the IGG to issue orders to interdict a public officer if they have cause to believe that the officer might interfere with investigations.

The IG says the authority is derived from Article 230(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and Section 13(6) of the Inspectorate of Government Act.

The IG states that the matter of Mugaino’s conduct while performing official duty is before court and, therefore, cannot be discussed in the public because it offends the sub judice law.

The IGG over the past four years has interdicted over 150 public officers, including six senior officers in the Office of the Prime Minister and many chief administrative officers.

Complaints

According to the statement, between December 2024 and April 2025, the IGG received 22 complaints against Mugaino alleging cancellation of certificates of title without following prescribed procedures under the law, removal of caveats without giving prescribed notices, double titling, issuing of special certificates of title while original ones exist, leading to multiple titling, cancellation of certificates of titles for disputes that would essentially be handled by courts with the intention of defeating Justice.

IG states that preliminary investigations found merit in the allegations and the IGG decided to launch a full-scale investigation in the office of the commissioner land registration.

Allegations

Prosecution alleges that between April 8 and 20 this year, Mugaino, while employed in the public service as commissioner of land registration, lands ministry in Kampala, abused his authority by arbitrarily performing acts prejudicial to his employer’s interests – the Government of Uganda, Tropical Bank Ltd, Akugizibwe and Namayiba Park Hotel.

He is accused of irregularly cancelling certificates of title his office had issued to Tropical Bank, Akugizibwe, and Namayiba Park Hotel.

The prosecution also alleges that Mugaino neglected his duties as stipulated in Section 88 of the Land Act and his schedule of duties as commissioner land registration, in April this year when handling a complaint about the land in question.

Background

Court documents indicate that on February 28, 2007, Businessman Mousa Lutwama Kizito obtained a credit facility of shillings 400 million from Tropical Bank using collateral constituting land at Kisugu in Kampala.

The documents further state that on August 18, 2007, Lweza Clays Ltd also obtained a credit facility from Tropical Bank using collateral consisting of land comprising Namirembe and Kisugu in Kampala and Lweza in Wakiso district.

Accordingly, Tropical Bank on September 25, 2007 registered the mortgages on the certificate of title.

However, Kizito and Lweza Clays defaulted on their loan repayments, prompting the bank to advertise the mortgaged properties after winning a court case.

Consequently, the bank on October 10, 2022, sold the mortgaged property at Namirembe to Akugizibwe for shillings 415 million. The bank also sold property at Kisenyi to Namayiba Park Hotel for shillings two billion.

The bank wrote to the Registrar High Court requesting the return of the mortgaged certificates of titles and bank guarantee as per the court order issued by Justice Stephen Mubiru.

The bank applied to the Commissioner Land Registration, requesting for special certificates of title upon failure to retrieve the mortgaged copies from the Registrar High Court (Commercial Division).

In a petition dated April 8, 2025, MBS Advocates, acting on behalf of Kizito and Luweza, requested the commissioner land registration to cancel the certificates of title for the land in question and Mugaino allegedly illegally removed court orders and caveats that had been lodged on the certificates of title, without any other orders from court.

Original Source: New Vision

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

Controversy Erupts Over Clearing of Kitubulu Forest Reserve for Development

Published

5 days ago

July 24, 2025

witnessradio.org

The National Forestry Authority (NFA) is under growing criticism for allocating sections of Kitubulu Central Forest Reserve in Entebbe to private developers—an action environmental advocates say contradicts the agency’s mandate of sustainable forest management.

According to the NFA’s official website, the authority is responsible for managing Uganda’s 1.265 million hectares of central forest reserves sustainably.

However, the recent clearing of parts of Kitubulu forest for development has sparked public outcry and accusations of institutional mismanagement.

This move also revives concerns about historical encroachment in Kitubulu. In 2018, a private developer controversially fenced off portions of the reserve to build cottages.

In 2022, Entebbe Member of Parliament Michael Kakembo led efforts to dismantle illegal structures, citing violations of environmental protection laws.

Environmentalists stress that the reserve plays a vital ecological role, including filtering pollutants before they enter Lake Victoria.

“This forest is part of the lake’s natural filtration system,” said a local activist who requested anonymity.

“When you clear it for concrete, you’re endangering both biodiversity and public health.”

Scientific data supports the reserve’s importance in preventing contaminants from reaching one of Africa’s most critical freshwater sources.

Broader concerns over Uganda’s dwindling forest cover add to the controversy. Research by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows forest land now covers just 1.9 million hectares—or 10% of Uganda’s total land area.

Much of this loss results from human activities such as deforestation for agriculture, charcoal burning, and unauthorized development.

While no direct peer-reviewed studies link NFA’s land allocations to specific ecological damage, experts warn that ongoing forest degradation threatens environmental stability.

Despite mounting criticism, the NFA has yet to issue a formal response explaining the legal and environmental grounds for the Kitubulu land allocations.

Pressure is growing for greater accountability and a thorough review of forest governance in Uganda.

Original Source: nilepost.co.ug

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

Land Grabbing Crisis Escalates in Uganda: Mayiga Urges Citizens to Secure Land Documents

Published

2 weeks ago

July 12, 2025

witnessradio.org

The Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga has issued a stern warning about the widespread threat of land grabbing in Uganda, that is destabilising communities and robbing citizens of their rightful property. Mayiga’s remarks came during a strategic meeting with Masaza Chiefs at Bulange, the administrative heart of the Buganda Kingdom.

According to Mayiga, land grabbing is no longer an isolated issue but a well-organised scheme that thrives on exploitation of unclear land ownership, missing documentation, and the absence of rightful landowners.

“Land grabbing is becoming a national crisis,” Mayiga said. “It is being driven by people who have access to the district land boards, judicial offices, law enforcement agencies, and even local government leaders such as RDCs, RCCs, and LCs. They use these connections to manipulate the system and claim land illegally.”

Mayiga warned that if left unaddressed, the issue will not only affect individuals but also undermine national development, destroy community cohesion, and increase poverty through the displacement of vulnerable landowners.

To protect themselves, the Katikkiro urged all Ugandans—especially those in Buganda—to ensure that their land is properly documented.

He emphasised the importance of obtaining and safeguarding legal documents such as land titles, sale agreements, and clear boundary demarcations.

“You must secure your land,” Mayiga stressed. “Have the right documents in place. Make sure your land is clearly demarcated and that all agreements are formalised. This is the only way we can defend ourselves.”

Mayiga also called on cultural leaders, legal professionals, and local governments to assist communities in navigating land registration processes and to stand against corrupt practices that enable land theft.

Buganda, with its vast and historic Mailo land system, has been one of the regions most affected by land-related conflicts. The Kingdom has consistently advocated for stronger protections for landowners and reforms to reduce exploitation and legal ambiguity.

Source: NilePost