Land amendment law is meant to protect vulnerable tenants

In the Sunday Monitor of May 20, my good friend Norbert Mao made some negative comments about me which must be corrected. My comment about the title “Ssabataka” made in the context of current land ownership was blown out of context and misrepresented by the press, but the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Lands immediately issued a press statement to correct the misrepresentation. On the same day, I clarified the matter to Cabinet.

I believe the issue was properly handled and put to rest. It is most unfortunate for Mao to resurrect the issue many years later in order to compare the incomparable.

In my written speech as minister of Lands promoting the Land Ament Bill, I stated that the concerns regarding the current status of the Kabaka as Ssabataka are not my own making, but a fact of written history and land law, which any person can consult.

For example, Samwiri Lwanga Lunyingo in his book, ‘The Struggle for Land in Buganda’, stated that the 1900 Uganda Agreement and the imposition of the mailo tenure in Buganda brought a fundamental change in the body politic in Buganda. On page 3 of the book, Lwanga observes that land was privatised and became an economic commodity far from the control of the Ssabataka.

He wrote: ‘The colonial land system removed the Kabaka from his position of Ssabataka of chief trustee of land in Buganda; it removed the clan needs as trustees of land on behalf of their clans; the relationship between the Kabaka to the chiefs and through the chiefs to the peasants, changed since the colonial system divorced the ownership of land from political responsibilities and most radical of all land could now be bought and sold like any other commodity…”

I feel offended by Mao to insult me that having done Museveni’s dirty work of defending an offensive law, I was dropped suddenly from Cabinet. I never did Museveni’s dirty work and I was never suddenly dropped from Cabinet. I consider myself a man of principle and high moral integrity.

I was not re-appointed to Cabinet together with many other ministers who lost parliamentary elections. I lost parliamentary election not because of Museveni, but due to local intrigue and jealousy by both UPC and NRM. As of now, I am living a very diginified and peaceful life.

Mao thinks that the Land Amendment Act is a bad law. This is not true. The amended law is a good law, which was enacted to protect vulnerable tenants from evictions and enhance the security of occupancy of lawful and bona fide occupants over registered land in accordance with Article 237 of the Constitution.

Even customary land owners benefited from the amended law. How I became a minister of Lands under President Museveni must be understood in proper historical context.

I never became a minister out of greed or opportunism. When some prominent Langi politicians, who had sacrifice so much for UPC and for restoration of multipartism were blocked, they contested and won elections as Independents.
When I won election as an Independent MP, President Museveni invited me to join his Cabinet again.

Before accepting the appointment, I carried out extensive consultation in Lango and people blessed me to become a minister in order to fight for peace, stop cattle rustling, return people to their homes from camps and protect their land. I was very successful in all these agenda and by 2010, rebel activities and cattle rustling had stopped. There were no more camps and people were back to their homes on their lands.

I wish to refer Mao to the Monitor of February 23, 2006 where in an interview, President Museveni is reported to have said “there were some Independents like Omara Atubo, who were Independents of other groups. I sat down with Omara Atubo, we negotiated and reached an agreement. We are here for political reasons, we are not looking for land or anything in politics”.

I joined Museveni’s government on a written agenda and condition. My main reason for working with Museveni as a minister from 1987 was anchored on realisation of peace. I made a lot of sacrifice, including being arrested, tortured, ambushed, imprisoned and prosecuted.

If President Museveni cheated me, God and history will judge him harshly. As minister in various capacities under him, I served this country to the best of my ability. I advise you and others to read my book titled ‘Calming the Storm’, which has recorded my struggle for justice, peace and democracy.

Mr Atubo is a former minister for Lands