Golf courses upcountry in ruins, land wrangles

A s a boy in the late 1960s, Mr Samson Emukoki, with his age mates, always converged at Soroti Golf Course grounds to collect balls that flew past the boundaries. By the late1970s, Mr Emukoki was fully engaged in the game.

“In the 1970s, golfing activities were vibrant. Visiting golfers from Lango Sub-region took part in golfing competitions, often ending their activities with swimming at the golf shades. Now all those structures are ruined,” the former golfer narrates.

Unlike golf courses in Kampala and Entebbe, which are regularly maintained, those upcountry are either locked in court battles or grazing grounds, a situation that threatens to send the sport into oblivion like in Soroti.

“I was among the more than 80 registered golfing members at Soroti Golf Course Club. Every evening, golfing attracted mammoth crowds. Unfortunately, when the political situation became fragile, that golf course turned into a host for refugees,” Mr Emukoki says.

The green spaces, established by colonial government, are spread across key urban areas in the countryside. They no longer host regional golfing tournaments like in the early 1960s.

Golf courses whose land is being contested include Soroti, Masindi, Tororo and Kasese, among others.
The once free walkways at Soroti Golf Club have been replaced with green fences being planted by a local NGO which claims to have acquired the land.
The club has been embroiled in a land dispute for more than 10 years.

‘Enemies of sport’
Mr Raymond Ekadu, a veteran golfer in Teso Sub-region, says some wrong elements are bent on killing sports, adding that all sporting grounds are under threat of encroachment.

“We are in court to save the golf course for posterity. People who fraudulently entered a partnership with past leadership of the golf course stealthily did paperwork to claim ownership of the land,” Mr Ekadu says.

The golf course, which once sat on more than 180 acres, now has about 100 acres following encroachment and fraudulent allocation to developers.

However, Mr Isaac Asaku, the deputy town mayor, says they are determined to save the land from fraudsters.
“We need greener spaces for leisure and recreational activities. We shall together with the trustees of Soroti Golf Club triumph because these spaces are more important now that some of these urban places are being turned to cities,” Mr Asaku says.

Mr Alex Kakooza, a pilot, says it is disheartening to see once a beautiful golf course in a sorry state.
“While a councillor at Soroti Municipal Council, we fought of what is left of the golf land,” Mr Kakooza says.

“The earlier we reverse the harm we have done on them (golf courses), the better we shall enjoy the cities being created,” he adds. In Masindi Municipality, three registered trustees of its golf course are in court, hoping to save its land so that golfing activities resume. The trustees are Mr Pantaleo Kasangaki, Mr Oscar Baitwa, Mr William Ndozereho.

Golf activities in the district were halted in 2017 following a dispute regarding the 0.3 hectares of golf course land on Baitwe Road.

Documents seen by this newspaper indicate that Masindi golf course registered trustees on February 14, 2017, dragged the district land board, accusing them of trespassing on the land.

Mr Ian Musinguzi, a lawyer representing the district land board, says part of the land was allocated to the Judiciary for construction of the high court chambers after complaints from residents who always had to travel to Fort Portal for court sessions.

The Masindi High Court on January 30, 2017 acquired a freehold title on March 3, 2017, from the district land board.
The case is before Justice Paul Wolimbwa Gadenya, the resident judge.

At Tororo Golf Course, Mr John Opio, the town mayor, says some two individuals in 2018 had allocated themselves plots on the golf course land but were blocked.

“As they carried out paperwork to takeover plots, we discovered and engaged the golfing fraternity. Since then, some activity remains ongoing, but we are afraid they may comeback ready to sting in different way, because some people continue not to value leisure spaces,” Mr Opio says.

The same threat is being faced at Jinja Golf Club.
“The past few months have been a struggle. We do have to be worried about land issues but I am happy that Jinja Club remains very active,” Mr Tim Grover, the captain of the golf club says.

He adds that the club provides several leisure facilities which attract investors.

And while the Masaka Golf Course, that seats on 60 acres of land is not facing the same challenges, it has never had any major renovation.

Established in 1962 by the British colonialists, its grounds are bushy. In the early 1980s, the golf course used to attract hundreds of tourists . The municipality used to collect more than Shs20m monthly from tourism.

Then authorities gave two acres of the golf course land to Bank of Uganda (BoU) to set up a regional currency centre.
At the onset of the project in 2016, some local leaders tried to block the project, claiming that the municipal authorities had illegally leased the land to BoU, but the matter was later resolved.
The city authorities plan to erect a hall on the land.

Mr Godfrey Kayemba Afaayo, the city’s interim mayor, says about Shs2b has already been earmarked for the project.
“We only changed land use for the proposed city hall and the currency centre, but the remaining 20 acres seem to be small. We are considering relocating the golf course to another spacious place in Kimaanya /Kabonera Sub-county,” he says.

The first attempt to parcel out the land was in 2009, but the move sparked outrage among sport fans.

Mbarara, Kabale

The picture is not that of despair in Mbarara and Kabale districts. The golf is still on. “Golf is very popular in Mbarara. We have more than 50 active members because the golf course is easily accessible,” Ms Godlive Nayebare, the lady captain of Mbarara Golf Club, says. Ms Nayebare says the golf course in Booma Cell, Kamukuzi, has routine tournaments, with membership also drawn from neighbouring Bushenyi, Ibanda, Isingiro and Kiruhura districts.
“We have Mbarara Open that attracts golfers from different parts of the country. We have been able to send teams to Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, among other countries,” she says. Her Kabale counterpart, Mr Ali Karama, says their activities have been halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. And in order to deter any encroachers, he adds: “As golfing fraternity, we secured land title for our nine-hole playground which has scared away land grabbers.”

Compiled by Simon Peter Emwamu, Isamail Bategeka, Joseph Omollo, Afled Tumushabe, Denis Edema, Robert Muhereza, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa & Malik Fahad Jjingo