UCU plans to lease out Ntawo land to investors
Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono District. The university wants to stop land grabbers. PHOTO/FILE
BY JESSICA SABANO
The administration of Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono District is planning to lease out one square mile of land in Ntawo Village to investors.
Part of the land was encroached on by the squatters.
The new proposal comes at the backdrop of a recent discussion between UCU administration and investors at the Namanve Industrial Park to have the land secured for expansion of the industrial park investment projects.
The UCU Vice Chancellor, Prof Aaron Mushengyezi, confirmed the ongoing engagements between UCU and the investors.
“Discussions are ongoing regarding the university-owned Ntawo land, where we expect to give it to investors for redevelopment. This land will be leased out to establish industrial park projects. The investors approached the university on a possibility of having the land leased to them since the Namanve land can’t accommodate more projects,” Prof Mushengyezi told journalists last week.
He added: “The university will not allow the land to be grabbed but any projects that the university proposes will not only benefit the university but also communities. We shall start with the area that is not occupied by tenants but plans are underway to have the bonafide occupants compensated to give way for a safe and clear redevelopment of the land.”
At the recent university graduation ceremony last month, Archbishop Steven Kaziimba, who doubles as the chancellor of UCU, re-echoed the need to have the land put to meaningful use through establishment of projects as part of the plan to secure the land from suspected land grabbers
“Ntawo land is to be developed with the need to have all church property that has been grabbed returned to the Church.
We call upon government to intervene in the Church property under threat including the Ntawo land where individuals including politicians have taken sides in denying the Church its property. It is unfortunate that even politicians have joined the land grabbers. We appeal for government intervention,” Archbishop Kaziimba said.
The archbishop’s concerns were re-echoed by the outgoing chairperson of the University Council and Bishop of Ankole Diocese, Sheldon Mwesigwa, who claimed that politicians were threatening to take away property that belongs to the Church but the situation was calmed when Lt Col Edith Nakalema intervened.
“Individuals have divided the land into plots and have come up with plots on this land. Developing this land is the only option to have the land grabbers checked,” Bishop Mwesigwa said.
In a bid to have a section of the Ntawo land developed, the UCU staff have reportedly been assaulted by suspected encroachers, and property of the university damaged. Ntawo land has had a history of disputes involving the squatters although the university authorities insist that some of the squatters were duly compensated.
The university also observes that encroachers are on the increase since new projects not sanctioned by the university have been cited. In 2016, the land was occupied by more than 800 people but the number could be higher.
The former UCU Vice chancellor, Rev John Ssenyonyi, said the university compensated some of the tenants although many refused to vacate and built houses. Rev Ssenyonyi said the university has a title for the land which was processed in 1940.
The Church owns 649.2 acres of land donated by the family of the late Ham Mukasa in 1921.
Ownership of the land was, however, transferred to Bishop Turker Theological College, presently the Uganda Christian University.
Background
Wrangles. In 2016, the then Archbishop Stanley Ntagali together with 30 bishops of the Church of Uganda survived lynching by a mob that descended on them as they toured section of the land at Ntawo Village in company of the UCU Vice Chancellor Ssenyonyi.
The police later rescued the prelate and bishops from the mob. The police apologised for failing to provide security to the archbishop-led delegation during the tour that risked lives of the church delegation. Some of the attackers were later arrested and prosecuted.
