Army officers accused of grabbing land in Kween
Three senior officers of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) have been accused of unlawfully evicting and acquiring 1,000 acres of land belonging to the Babukusu community in Kween District.
What you need to know:
A report filed at Greek River Police Post in May, a copy of which was presented to the commission yesterday, indicates that during the March incident, some Babukusu were chased from their land, others beaten, their houses burnt down and property looted.
Kampala. Three senior officers of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) have been accused of unlawfully evicting and acquiring 1,000 acres of land belonging to the Babukusu community in Kween District.
The Babukusu is a cultural group of people belonging to the Bagisu.
The Commission of Inquiry into Land matters yesterday heard that Lt Col Nassur Kibet of the 59th Battalion in Kapchorwa, Maj (Rtd) Leonard Chemonges, who works with State House, and Lt Chelokoi Mwanga of the 30th Battalion in Amudat District, evicted 427 people.
The trio is jointly accused with Kapchorwa prominent businessmen Paul Mumya and Michael Chemonges.
Witnesses yesterday presented evidence before the Commission, indicating that the soldiers and the businessmen have since partitioned the land in Greek and Ngenge sub-counties and employed armed men to guard it.
Mr Eliud Sindani Mukhwana, one of the affected, testified that the eviction, which was carried out in March, has since left them homeless.
“We resettled on the land in September 2013 following a mediation committee between the Babukusu and the Sabiny because our land had been vacant following the 1979 tribal clashes, which displaced us,” Mr Mukhwana said.
“The land was demarcated and I was allocated 100 acres but to our surprise, after resettling, the soldiers came and directed them to go back to Bungoma in Kenya,” he added.
Describing the land as their ancestral property, Mr Mukhwana testified that the accused persons connived with the district land board to grant them freehold land titles.
“We are suffering without shelter. Our children cannot go to school because we do not have means of survival and we have no food after our crops were destroyed and others harvested by the land grabber. We appeal to the commission (of inquiry) to help us repossess our land and bring the culprits to book,” he said.
A report filed at Greek River Police Post in May, a copy of which was presented to the commission yesterday, indicates that during the March incident, some Babukusu were chased from their land, others beaten, their houses burnt down and property looted.
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