Land evictions a shame to NRM – Maj Kakooza Mutale
Shame. Maj Kakooza Mutale addresses a stakeholders meeting on land evictions in Nakaseke Town Council at the weekend. PHOTO BY DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
- The meeting was organised by MPs Sarah Najjuma (Nakaseke District Woman MP), Paul Lutamaguzi (Nakaseke South) and officials from the Uganda Land Commission.
- Ms Najjuma had suggested that government first halts the implementation of the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) programme and use the funds to propel the recently introduced Land Fund Programme.
Nakaseke. The ongoing land evictions where bona fide tenants have lost their land to powerful individuals in the army and government is a big shame to the ruling NRM party, senior presidential assistant on political affairs Roland Kakooza Mutale has said.
Maj Mutale cited an example of Luweero Triangle where several families are homeless after their land was allegedly grabbed by powerful individuals in government whom he declined to name.
Luweero Triangle is where the current government set base and fought a five-year guerrilla war that brought President Museveni to power.
Maj Mutale said President Museveni had directed him to investigate the ongoing illegal land evictions in Nakaseke District and give him a report.
He was speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting in Nakaseke Town to discuss the unending land evictions in Nakaseke District at theweekend.
The meeting was organised by MPs Sarah Najjuma (Nakaseke District Woman MP), Paul Lutamaguzi (Nakaseke South) and officials from the Uganda Land Commission.
Maj Mutale, who accused some judicial officers of aiding land grabbers by causing the arrest of the victims, directed law enforcers, including police, to stop detaining residents over trumped-up charges of trespass.
“These people should simply record police statements and be allowed to go home. If the statement process is incomplete, they can be summoned the next day,” he said.
Earlier, Ms Najjuma had suggested that government first halts the implementation of the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) programme and use the funds to propel the recently introduced Land Fund Programme.
“...Our people need the land Fund before we can successfully implement OWC projects,” she said.
Mr John Fisher Kasenge, a commissioner at the Uganda Land Commission, said: “...We are coming up with an inventory to enable usdiffrentiate between Buganda Land Board and Public Land. We need clear boundaries and land titles for government institutions which are increasingly losing big chunks of land to opportunists,” Mr Kasenge said.
Currently, more than 10,000 families in Nakaseke face eviction threats in several sub-counties while many residents have lost land and property to land grabbers.
