Buganda Kingdom, Mityana municipality clash over land

A row has erupted between Buganda Land Board (BLB) and Mityana Municipal Council over the ownership of a piece of land where the latter is constructing its headquarters.

The land measuring 0.469 hectares is on Block 148 Plots 2-6 and 8-10, on Muwemba Road in Mityana Town.

 Although BLB says the land belongs to Buganda Kingdom, the municipal officials insist it is a property of the central government.

BLB has since ordered Mityana Municipal authorities to halt the construction works, faulting local leaders for not following the proper procedures.

BLB is an arm of Buganda Kingdom which was  formed in 1993 to manage part of the assets returned to the Kabaka under the Traditional Rulers Restitution of Assets & Properties Act 1993.

In a June 28 letter, Mr Simon Kabogoza, the BLB chief executive officer, said the municipal leaders, who are sitting tenants on the land, should first renew their lease before commencing the works.

According to Mr Kabogoza, the lease for Mityana Municipal Council expired in 2017.
“ …I, therefore,  implore you to halt any construction until an application is made by yourself to BLB, an agent of the Kabaka of Buganda and the same approved,” Mr Kabogoza’s letter that was addressed to  Mityana Municipal Town Clerk reads in part.

He said the construction works were illegal, adding that the disputed land is among the properties the central government returned to the kingdom in 2013.

“We are not against the development, but such development should follow the laid down procedure and should you continue with the construction, then we shall use lawful means and legal remedies available to us,” the letter also copied to the Attorney General of Uganda, adds.

When Daily Monitor visited the site on Monday, the construction works were still ongoing.
Mr Faustian Mukambwe Lukonge, the Mityana Municipality mayor, said he had earlier advised the municipal technical team not to construct the headquarters on any land that they do not have a title or valid lease.

“I advised them that we go to Mengo and regularise our tenancy, they never listened to me,” he said.
However, Mr Deo Mukalazi, the Mityana Municipality senior physical planner, said the land does not belong to Buganda Kingdom. 

He explained that in the 1990s, when Mityana was still a town council, they bought the land from Lawrence Mukudde and Henry Kaala who had a 49–year lease from Uganda Land Commission (ULC), which expired in 2012. 

He said the town council authorities then went back to ULC and applied for extension of their lease by more than five years, which later expired in 2017.   “We are now in the process of acquiring a 99-year lease from ULC,” he said.