The Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, has issued directives halting all activities on land with encumbrances in Nakaseke District. She instructed the Resident District Commissioner, RoseMary Byabasaija, to conduct investigations and produce a report within one month.
The minister made the revelation during a lands meeting on April 30 in Muwaluzi village in Butalangu Town Council and Wabitunda Village in Kiwoko Town Council.
“This will help us ascertain details on this land. Let all Bibanja holders and landlords submit their documents to give us a leeway on what’s next. I have stopped all those claiming to be landlords from coming back to this land until matters are resolved,” she directed.
The minister subsequently directed the District Police Commander to ensure that no landlord returns to the land, while locals are provided with security. The land in contention sits on Block 321, plots 2, 3, and 4, and Block 784 in Bulemeezi County.
Charles Kazungu, the Muwaluzi village chairperson, explained that land in Butalangu Town Council spans 640 acres, stretching across two villages, Muwaluzi A and B. The disputes began in 2020 after officials from Buganda Kingdom allegedly visited the area and collected ground rent (Busuulu) from locals.
During the same period, another group claiming to be from Bunyoro Kingdom also visited the land, asserting ownership.
“Majority of the squatters settled on this land after the National Resistance Army (NRA) Guerilla war of the 1980s that brought President Museveni into power in 1986. We thought it was public land, but to our surprise, there is a Mailo land title, an indication that the land belongs to Buganda Kingdom,” he said.
Mr. Kazungu says his land measures 23 acres and he had already applied to get a land title, thinking it was public land. He emphasized that officials from the District Land Board visited their community and guided them on how to pay taxes, insisting that it was public land.
The area mayor added that the individuals claiming ownership are not straightforward. The title they presented was a special title, claiming they had lost the original title.
“We have residents with freehold land titles measuring 60 acres, but purported landlords claim they own the entire square mile, which they say sits on block 580, contrary to what is on the ground,” he stated.
Goretti Mukagatare, a councillor representing the area at Butalangu TC, said her parents have been squatters on the land for about 40 years.
“Let the District Land Board tell us why they have been taking people’s money to give them titles, without knowing the exact status of this land,” she said.
Wabitunda land disputes allegedly involve an Indian man, among other landlords, whom locals say connived with the land administrator William Mwambazi to take their land. The residents claim the land has a lease title, which was subdivided into eight subleases, expiring in 2035.
Residents, including an 80-year-old man, were chased from their bibanja, with their food destroyed and some arrested. They are now living as strangers on their own bibanja.
Margaret Nalubega, who owns six acres on this land, claims she made an agreement with some of the said landlords, promising her a land title, but she has yet to receive it.
“I have three grandchildren, and I have nowhere to dig to feed them. All my gardens were destroyed,” she cried out to the minister.
Nakaseke Senior Land Management Officer Geoffrey Tumusiime stated that titles on the disputed land appear to be forged or were not properly processed before being printed. He pledged to follow up on the matter with the minister.
RDC Byabashaija committed to expediting the matter, commending the minister’s efforts in meeting with the affected persons on the ground despite her busy schedule.
Sarah Najjuma, Nakaseke District Woman MP, asked the minister to help the affected villages and suggested that if the issue is not resolved, the Government should buy land for them, as has been done in other areas.
“We benefited from the land fund in areas of Kapeeka. We are praying that, even this time, our dear President bails us out of this situation,” she said.
At the end of the meetings, Minister Nabakooba announced that she had assumed the authority to grant permission for boundary opening on land with encumbrances. She also stated that a committee would be established within the Lands Ministry to oversee the issuance of special titles and the cancellation of land titles.
