Kasese land board ordered to cancel land titles in Mubuku irrigation scheme

The Bamugemereire Commission of Inquiry has directed Kasese District land board to cancel all titles issued on the Mubuku irrigation scheme land.
The commission said the land title were issued in error.
The Commission is investigating land matters in the country. It’s chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire.

The directive came after Kasese district surveyor, Mr Francis Mugisa and Mr Uria Baluku, the land board chairman, failed to explain why they issued titles to individuals on government land yet the Attorney General had advised the land board not to survey the said land.

“My Lord I admit that it was an oversight and hope to correct the errors done on government land, but as the district land board, we don’t have clear boundaries of Mubuku irrigation land even the gazette that has been presented to you was produced in 2015. We were not given a copy to know the exact boundaries of government land,” Mr Mugisa explained.
He said they continued issuing land titles to different entities because those who applied for the lease said the land was not part of the irrigation scheme land.

Mr Mugisa told the committee that the fraudulent acts done could possibly be cancelled since many leases were customary.
The land titles in question were secured for Rukoki Batataka Cooperative Association and Siwarana Commercial Farmers Group which occupy over 82 acres on the irrigation farm.
Kasese District is a hotbed of ethnic and land wrangles that have left many people dead, crops slashed and cattle cut in different parts of the district for many years.
During the opening on the land probe in Kasese District on Monday at Hotel Maragarita, the district chairman, Mr Geoffrey Bigogo said land is one of the main causes of conflicts in the area.