Mengo, RDC in fight over Sembabule land
Buganda Kingdom has lost the battle to secure a piece of land in Sembabule District.
This comes after the district authorities led by the Resident District Commissioner, Mr Nixon Kabuye, took a decision to commence construction of a staff canteen on the kingdom land in disregard of a directive from Buganda Kingdom to halt the project.
On April 8, Buganda Kingdom Attorney General and Minister for Local Government Christopher Bwanika wrote to Mr Kabuye asking him to halt construction works. The letter was also copied to the minister-in-charge of Presidency, Ms Esther Mbayo.
In the letter, Mr Bwanika stated that there was no urgency for putting upstructures on Kabaka’s land without clearance from Mengo, the official seat of Buganda Kingdom.
“Your conduct amounts to inciting and aiding the contractor who is trespassing onKabaka’s land. You have no power to confer title to the purported developer in contradiction and violation of the agreement of August 1, 2013, lest you embarrass the office which you represent and the government you serve,” the letter reads in part.
Mr Bwanika said they were surprised to learn of the continued construction despite reporting a criminal case at police and investigations could not go on due to the current lockdown.
Earlier, Mr Kabuye had given Kabaka’s chief in Mawogola County [Sembabule District], Mr Muhammad Sserwadda, a three-day ultimatum to present a land title for the land to prove that it belongs to the kingdom.
However, Mr Sserwada said he could not access the said land title because all offices at Mengo are closed due to the ongoing lockdown.
In a telephone interview last week, Mr Kabuye urged the kingdom officials to stop making verbal excuses and present documents showing ownership.
“You cannot just stop a government project because you claim ownership of land which you cannot even prove. Let them [Buganda Kingdom] use the zonal land office in Masaka to secure something to prove that they own the land instead of taking advantage of the current lockdown to stop a government project which may prompt the contractor to sue the district for halting construction works which will result in breach of contract,” he added.
Mr Joseph Kawuuki, the state minister for local government in Buganda Kingdom, said they are going to challenge the RDC’s actions in court.
“Everyone in Sembabule knows that that land belongs to Buganda Kingdom, when the current lockdown is over, we shall challenge the RDC’s decision in courts of law and we shall get our land back,” he said in an interview on Saturday .
Other cases of land wrangles
In 2018, Sembabule also clashed with Buganda Kingdom officials over ownership of a building at the district headquarters.
This followed a decision by the district administration headed by the district chairperson, Dr Elly Muhumuza, to renovate a community hall said to belong to Buganda Kingdom.
Kabaka’s chief in the area explained that the community hall was constructed by Sir Edward Mutesa’s government in 1960s and is among the properties that have been under the control of the central government and recently returned to kingdom.
They wondered how the district administration could own a building, which existed before Sembabule District came into being in 2001 after it was carved out of Masaka District.
In 2013, government and Mengo signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which the former agreed to return all kingdom property but a year later when handing over some of the title deeds to Buganda Kingdom officials, President Museveni warned the kingdom against evicting tenants who have over the years occupied her land and buildings.
In 2014, Buganda Kingdom premier Charles Peter Mayiga announced that Buganda Land Board (BLB) had assumed full powers effective August 1, 2013 to manage all properties that central government had confiscated in 1966 and districts have no mandate to sell or issue leases.
However, Mr Mayiga advised individuals who already hold titles on such land to work with BLB officials in their localities to have their titles regularised.
