The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Judith Nabakooba, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has halted opening of boundaries on 13 square miles of land in Luwero District.
The disputed land is located in two parishes of Kalasa and Nsanvu parish in Makulubita sub county.
It is reported that the land originally block 207 belonged to the official mile of Buganda Kingdom but it was nationalized in 1975 and the Uganda Land Commission took over its administration.
Since then several people have acquired land titles and the land sub-divided into blocks 207 and 208.
Among the landlords that have acquired land titles are Ronnie Ssendawula, Isaac Muyanja , John Kizito Mulumba and Pearline Investment Limited among others.
Over 5,000 tenants have occupied the land for decades but recently the new landlords embarked on boundary opening and threatened to evict them for further development.
Doreen Nakalyango an affected tenant says that she got four acres of land from his father in the 1980s but recently unknown men embarked started opening boundaries and ordered her to surrender a piece of land or lose it all.
Nakalyango adds that the men also ordered her to stop cultivating on the land because they had acquired a title on it.
Another affected resident Federesi Nabukeera of Wesune village says that she had declined to allow the new landlord to survey the land but yielded to pressure over threats to grab it.
Other tenants complained of intimidation and threats of eviction by new landlords.
Brenda Nabukenya the Luwero District Woman Member of Parliament said the tenants are against boundary opening because they suspect the landlords acquired the titles fraudulently since the land reverted to Buganda Land Board and they were paying rental fees to it.
Nabukenya said she petitioned the Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba to investigate the matter to establish rightful owners and stop planned eviction but she was surprised landlords started opening boundaries before the matter is resolved.
On Wednesday, Nabakooba, rushed to the affected villages and ordered the landlords to stop boundary opening until her office in consultation with the Commissioner of Land Registration and Buganda Land Board establishes the rightful owners of the land.
Nabakooba said that preliminary investigations indicate that some of the land titles were illegally issued by Luwero District Board and should be cancelled.
Nabakooba added no rightful tenant should be evicted by either the Buganda Land Board or landlords until the matter is resolved.
Sam Mulwana the Chairperson of Luwero District Board says that he will convene the meeting soon and review the minutes that offered some titles on the disputed land before they take action as the minister directed since the matter was handled by former board members.
The landlords were unavailable to comment on the Minister’s Nabakooba directive or tenants’ complaints.
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