Land probe summons ambassador’s wife

Kampala. The chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, has summoned Ms Miriam Sebunya, a wife of the former Ugandan ambassador to Libya, Mr Moses Kiwe Sebunya, to appear before the Commission on Thursday and explain why she evicted more than 50 families from a four-square mile piece of land.

The Justice Bamugemereire-led team visited Kitagonerwa Village, Geyongera Parish in Kasanda District on Friday following a petition by the affected residents who accused Ms Sebunya of grabbing their land.

Accusations
The residents also accused the former envoy’s wife of using security guards to allegedly harass them and rape women. However, Daily Monitor could not independently verify this claim.

“Tell them (Saracen guards) that the Commission has set foot here, to stop disrupting people. We want to know who brought them to this village. We also want to see [Ms Sebunya], she must appear before the Commission,” Justice Bamugemereire said and directed residents of Kitagonerwa Village to pass the message immediately. More than 200 residents whose houses were razed and their bibanja taken by Ms Sebunya waited for more than eight hours to present their petition to the visiting Commission.

Justice Bamugemereire lost her cool after one of the residents, Ms Restuta Namakula, told the land probe that Saracen guards deployed to guard the disputed land rape women who go to fetch firewood.

No action taken
The vice chairperson of the area, Mr Blasio Mbakwasa, told the Commission that some of the cases were reported to police but they did nothing to bring the suspected perpetrators to book.

Justice Bamugemereire explained that the commission had started investigating how Ms Sebunya acquired the said land and accusations of rape.

Residents through localleadership told the Commission how they have had no peace since 2011 when Ms Sebunya first appeared on the scene.

“When Ms Sebunya came, she brought Saracen guards who used to shoot, break people’s houses. Many people were displaced and they moved to the nearby trading centre,” Mr Mbakwasa said.

He also claimed that Ms Sebunya grabbed the land in question and that majority of the residents were not compensated.

Allegations
Many residents told the Commission that Ms Sebunya masqueraded as the President’s sister and uses police to have them arrested on trumped-up charges.
“In this area, guns are used to guard cows as they graze in people’s gardens. Let the guns be removed from our village,” Mr Mbakwasa said.

Mbakwasa was supported by Kasanda North MP Patrick Nsamba who said the people terrorising the residents could only listen to Justice Bamugemereire.