Covid has taught us that land is worth more than boda boda

News in the past few weeks has been dominated by lockdown-hit Ugandans crying out to the President to open their businesses as they can no longer hold forte.

Right from religious leaders to arcade owners to musicians and boda boda riders, these common-interest groups have petitioned either Trade minister, Speaker of Parliament or MPs to talk to the President to ease the lockdown, given that other sectors are back in operations.

Despite these efforts, the President looks unlikely to buckle until his ‘scientists’ tell him otherwise.

My biggest highlight, however, has been about boda boda riders. First, their run-ins with security agencies in various parts of the country have been very disheartening and their handling by security agencies should be condemned. But there is an underlying issue in the boda boda plight. Just like most urban dwellers, boda boda cyclists live off daily income.

Denying them work for more than a month is in itself an indirect death sentence. A big section of these cyclists are riding borrowed motorbikes while many others sold their inherited land to come to Kampala and pursue a brighter future. I will concentrate on the latter group because it is the most endangered.

Imagine a young man in Kawempe, who sold his fair share of land inheritance and bought a boda boda.

Today, he cannot go back to the village and start over because there is no place to go back to. He is thus holed up in a rented house with a young family whose sole survival is dependent on the two-wheeled cycle being on the road.

That’s why they are determined to even break the law by carrying passengers and risk the wrath of police rather than watching their family members die of hunger. While we cannot celebrate the current misery of some boda boda riders, the Covid-19 lockdown should be a lesson to many young people who were planning on abandoning villages to go to urban centres to make ends meet.

I have experienced people who embarked on farming when the President first announced a lockdown and today they are harvesting tomatoes and cabbages, beans, etc. This cannot be said of our boda boda friends who first sold land to buy them.

During the total lockdown, while urban dwellers, including socialites, lost their sense of shame and pride and started asking well-wishers and government for food, their village counterparts had little to worry about.

They tilled their gardens and fed their families.

Even some urban folk took advantage of the situation. One example is Nakaseke MP Luttamaguzi Ssemakula, who has repeatedly advocated for proper land utilisation. While he is well paid as a legislator, Mr Luttamaguzi has never abandoned agriculture because he knows it is the backbone of this country.

The Covid-19 experience has thus reaffirmed the fact that land is the most important asset.
Yes, boda bodas are a vital in Uganda’s transport sector, and they employ very many young people; but if the option is to sell your land to buy a boda boda, you are better off keeping your land.

It was by no accident that Uganda was identified as the Pearl of Africa. Every grain of Ugandan soil can be put to great use. We have soils for farming, for pastoralism, for construction, for forestry and even mining. You just need to know what your land is good for and make good use of it.

If you are indeed pressed for money, there are other options than selling your land. At Buganda Land Board, for instance, our experts have advised people that instead of selling their land/bibanja, they can easily rent or lease them out (if it is on private mailo).
Imagine if you rented out your land for 10 years at Shs1m per year, you would comfortably buy a boda boda and still retain ownership of that land.

If it is Kabaka’s land, people are advised to secure their land by acquiring proper documentation, which they can even use to get funds from financial institutions.

Now you know that the kibanja your father left you is worth more than 10 boda bodas, a car, etc.

Mr Kimbowa is the team leader Communications at Buganda Land Board
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