Gunfire as residents protest eviction
Some of the residents who turned up for the Tuesday meeting to discuss their fate with Masaka RDC Linos Ngompek. PHOTO BY ALI MAMBULE
What you need to know:
The residents claim the land belonged to the Kabaka and is thus public land.
Masaka- Residents of Bulenga village in Buwunga Sub-county, Masaka district on Monday protested eviction from their land by a businessman who reportedly bought it.
Mr George William Semaluulu had recently brought surveyors to open the boundaries on the 54-acre piece of land. On suspicion that they faced eviction, the residents confronted the surveyors, who were being guarded by police from Masaka.
The angry residents hurled stones and clubs at the team which prompted the police to respond by firing tear gas and live ammunition in the air.
The police and surveyors retreated and disappeared before the boundaries were opened. The residents led by Mr Nsubuga Kizito then travelled to Masaka to report the matter to the RDC, Mr Linos Ngompek.
The way forward
The RDC visited the village the following day and held a meeting with the aggrieved residents.
The residents claimed they have been living on this land which belonged to the Kabaka for a very long time before it was later turned into public land.
It is alleged that Mr Semaluulu acquired the land through Masaka district land board in 2004. Whereas part of the land was free from settlers at the time when he acquired it, a bigger part of it was occupied by more than 20 households which live in fear of possible eviction.
During a Tuesday meeting, Mr Semaluulu told the RDC that he had all the relevant documents to prove ownership.
“After acquiring the land, I was attacked by a strange disease which resulted in a stroke and since then, I was bedridden,” Mr Semaluulu said.
He claimed some people thought that he would die soon and took advantage of his poor health and absence to trespass on to his land.
Mr Ngompek advised both parties to remain calm but gave Mr Semaluulu a go ahead to open boundaries of the section of his land that is free from settlers.
“For the other part where there are settlers, we are planning to bring other surveyors who would show to us the correct boundaries,” Mr Ngompek said.
“After opening the boundaries, we shall follow the legal eviction procedures.”
