Residents celebrate arrest of Luweero village chairperson

While village chairpersons command respect from residents who entrusted them with power, at Kiyenje Village in Luweero District, the residents burst into jubilation when police arrested their chairperson on allegations of threatening violence and land grabbing.
Mr Isaac Nanzuuka, 63, a local council village chairperson was arrested Monday and directed to board a police patrol car after a village meeting held at Kiyenje Village in Luweero Town Council where more than 50 households accused him of threatening violence and orchestrating illegal arrests of many people whose land would later be grabbed.

At a village meeting attended by the Luweero District Security
Committee headed by the Resident District Chairperson, Ms Phoebe Namulindwa, the residents accused Mr Nanzuuka of grabbing their respective pieces of land by way of intimidation and use of force backed by individual officers from Luweero Central Police Station.
Ms Justine Newa, 52, a resident of Kiyenje Village told the meeting that Nanzuuka had caused her arrest and detention at Butuntumula government prison on claims that she had burnt his sugarcane plantation.

“I was only saved from prison after the intervention of the district leaders led by the Luweero District Chairperson Mr Ronald Ndawula and the Luweero Town Council LCIII Chairperson, Mr Paul Mukungu who followed up the case.
Nanzuuka grabbed my Kibanja at Kiyenje Village and ordered that the yams I had planted be destroyed. He claimed that the land I was using belonged to him,” Ms Newa said.

Mr Nanzuuka who doubles as chairperson of the traditional healers in Luweero Town Council reportedly uses his office as a traditional healer to instill fear among those whose land has been taken away.
“We are surprised that Nanzuuka threatened to hurt people who accuse him of taking their respective Bibanja (land). Our surprise is that he is very well connected to individuals within the police force who are very quick to carry out arrests. We have a resident identified as Joseph Samanya whose motorcycle was taken away by Mr Nanzuuka. The motorcycle is now property of Mr Nanzuuka. We appeal to the district leaders to prevail upon the conduct of Nanzuuka,” Mr Samuel Kikabi, a council chairperson of Kalongo village in Luweero Town Council told the meeting.

Mr Ronald Ndawula, the Luweero District chairperson told the meeting that his office was overwhelmed by the number of complaints brought against Nanzuuka yet he is a leader.
“ It is unfortunate that we have leaders who still believe that they can grab people’s property and getaway with the loot. It is also unfortunate that many of the people who accuse Mr Nanzuuka are elderly people and majority are women. Our attempts to try to resolve the problem has always been resisted because Nanzuuka is quick at circumventing the normal procedures to cause the arrest of innocent people,” he said.

Nanzuuka before his arrest had however told journalists that his had documents backing ownership of all the pieces of land under his possession.
“These people are just jealous of my hard work. I earn money from different projects including my work as a traditional healer,” Nanzuuka stated in a brief interview.
The land in dispute measures about one square mile with more than half of it located in a wetland. The community shares the wetland where more than 50 families have farming plots (Bibanja).

Luweero Town Council and the Uganda Roads Authority have some infrastructure on this very land. The land also houses the Presidential Lodge. The dispute is on the farming land and a section where the community have a stone quarry. It is alleged that Nanzuuka claims ownership of the quarry and has chased away a section of residents who have been earning a living from crushing stones.

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