Elders protest over delayed pay for Bunambutye land

A section of elders and youth leaders in Sebei Sub-region have protested over what they termed as government delay to compensate them for their ancestral land in Bunambutye Sub-county in Bulambuli District.

The elders allege that the land, which covers Plot 10, 93, 94 and measures 60,000 hectares,  part of which the government has resettled landslide victims from various districts in Bugisu Sub-region on, belonged to their ancestors.

They claim their forefathers were forced out of the land, which is found in the lowlands, by the Karimojong cattle rustlers in the 1980s before they migrated to the upper plains of Sebei. 

Mr Henry Sabita, one of the elders, said the government should settle the matter through compensation.

“The government should expedite the process of compensation because everybody knows that was our land and even the report by Julius Odwee, the then Inspector General of Police , revealed so, but the findings have been ignored,” he said.

Mr Sabita said the Odwee report indicated that the land in question was inhabited by four ethnic groups: Sabiny, Bagisu, Babukusu, and Nandi.  

He added that the report further revealed that the Sabiny owned 70 percent of the land while each of the other tribes had a 10 percent share.

The locals made the demands during a community meeting held in Kutung Village, Kutung Ward in Kapchorwa Municipality at the weekend.

The meeting was attended by local leaders from the three districts of Kween, Kapchorwa and Bukwo, which constitute sub-region.

Mr Christopher Chemonges, another elder and also the   chairperson of Kutung Village, said denying them the right to own their land has hindered development.

“We would have had our children attain a good life, education and wealth like other people, but because we don’t have land, that has not been possible,” Mr Chemonges said.

Mr Johnson Kayira, a resident, said: “We have no access to our ancestral land because it is now in another district, but they should at least compensate us.” 

Mr Tom Chesang, the chairperson of Sabiny Youth Land Claimants, a voluntary organisation that champions the rights of land ownership, said they have written to all responsible offices including the office of the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) reminding the government about the delayed compensation.

“We have been crying for justice for a long time and we petitioned the RDC’s office but no action has been taken yet,” he said.

Mr David Kissa, a councillor in Kapchorwa District, said the children of the claimants are living in abject poverty.

“They don’t have any employment to survive on. They cannot practice agriculture because their land was taken away,” he said.

Mr Tom Chesol, the RDC of Kapchorwa, however, urged the claimants to follow the due process.

“Let them follow the due process if they want compensation or to reclaim their land. Let them sue the local government and individuals on their land and if the court okays them, then they will be free to go to their land,” he said.

The RDC of Bulambuli, Mr Stanley Bayoole, said Bunambutye land is a gazetted land and it’s in Bulambuli District, not Kapchorwa.
“They should know Bunambutye land is in Bulambuli District. But if they think it’s their land, they should have full documentation,” he said.

Mr Bayoole urged the claimants to go through proper ways in pursuit of compensation from the government.

Background 

The government in 2013 bought more than 2,800 acres of land in Bunambutye Sub-county in Bulambuli District to relocate and resettle people from different landslide-prone districts in Bugisu Sub-region.

Close to 241 families, comprising more than 4,000 people have so far been resettled in the camp in two phases between 2019 and 2020.    

The first batch was resettled in May 2019 and another in February 2020.