Besigye to resettle Elgon evictees
THE HISTORY
In 2001, Mr Museveni, while addressing people of Bududa and Manafwa districts said he would wear gumboots, climb Mt Elgon to find a lasting solution for the settlers. He is yet to do it, he said. The encroachers living in Manafwa, Buwabwala have since formed a group, Malokopo [gumboots] Land Owners. They say they are waiting for the President to sort out the land wrangles between them and the Uganda Wildlife Authority .
Dr Besigye addresses supporters in in Manafwa on friday. PHOTO BY Abubaker Lubowa
What you need to know:
Pledge. Dr Kizza Bisgye promised to sort out land problems and counter landslides in the Mt Elgon sub-region if voted into power next year
Bududa.
FDC presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has pledged to sort out land problems and counter landslides in the Mt Elgon sub-region if voted into power next year.
Speaking at Bukalasi, Bududa, the scene of major mudslides that killed about 250 people in 2010, Dr Besigye accused the government of failing on the promise to resettle the people who were affected.
“In 2010 the government said they would set up satellite towns within Bududa to resettle people but to-date they have failed,” Dr Besigye said, “They just sent people to Kiryandongo and abandoned them in bad conditions and the settlers have all come back.” Then came the promise: “My government will provide a lasting solution to this problem.”He did not expound further.
Dr Besigye accused President Museveni’s government of letting the people in the area occupy reserve lands during campaigns and turning around to evict them after elections.
Dr Besigye looked to tap into local discontent to drive home his message of change in the districts of Elgon sub-region, which traditionally votes President Museveni and the NRM party.
The districts of Bududa, Manafwa and Bulambuli, where Dr Besigye campaigned at the weekend, are largely mountainous and face transport problems and are susceptible to mudslides whenever rains pound.
On Sunday, Dr Besigye’s campaigns in Manafwa District were delayed when one of the vehicles in his convoy carrying the public address system, which was driving ahead of him, got stuck in mud for hours at Kibanda.
Mr Eldadi Kuloba, who attended the rally, said when the Nametsi landslide killed people in March 2010, President Museveni promised to have the bad road up the hills to Bukalasi done but that five years down the road, there are no signs of progress at all.
“We are going to ask him for a road to Nametsi and we shall also ask for the satellite towns for our resettlent because he promised them,” said Mr Kuloba, a farmer in Bukalasi.
Dr Besigye, nearly time-barred because he had three districts to cover in two days and mobility was hard due to the state of the roads and topography, only reechoed the messages he had been propagating elsewhere.
