Land dispute deepens as Basongora protest

The Basongora  have protested against the opening of boundaries on more than 1,400 hectares in Ntoko, Kitswamba Sub-county in Kasese District. 

Basongora, mainly pastoralists, and the Bakonzo,  mainly cultivators, claim ownership of 1,452 hectacres of land.

The Basongora have opposed the  opening of boundaries on the land, accusing district officials of siding with Bakonzo to grab their land.

Last month, the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development released a survey report and directed the district leadership to open boundaries.

However, the Basongora have since March 2 opposed the move. They have for the past week tried to block district leaders from accessing the land saying they were not involved in the survey process.

According to the survey report, the cultivators will take 310 hectares, pastoralists will take 350 acres (about 142 hectares) while Uganda Peoples Defence Forces will take 600 hectares.  About 400 hectares have not been allocated to any party.

Mr John Mugume, a pastoralist, said the whole piece of land belongs to the Basongora. 
He said when the boundaries are opened, the Basongora will lose most of their land to the Bakonzo, who say they can hardly grow crops because of the dispute. 

“We have the freedom to graze from any part of this land and therefore we shall not tolerate the demarcation and splitting of our land,” he said.

The chairman of  Kitswamba Sub-county, Mr Yofesi Katenene, said district leaders need to distance themselves due to conflict of interest.

“It is alleged that some leaders are illegally soliciting money from people who are not even residents of the area to secure for them pieces of land once the matter is resolved,” he said.

The village chairperson of Kayanja I, Mr Richard Nankunda, accused the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Lt. Joe Walusimbi, of favouritism.  

“Instead of being the mediator, the RDC is more interested in a specific group of people (not named) to own the land,” He said.

But Mr Walusimbi dismissed Mr Nankunda’s claims. “No person will be evicted but what we want is to establish truth,” he said.

He added: “We have to make sure that everybody is treated equally. A survey report was released indicating the pieces of land belonging to each group but we are still wondering why these people are still in persistent disputes. We have to act as leaders to have each party settled.”

The Kasese District chairman, Mr Eliphazi Muhindi, has appealed to the community to accept the recommendations of the survey report.

“They (Basongora) mobilised against our district security team which had gone on ground, but we agreed to meet them again so that they can accept. We have a survey report backed by all people who have authority,” he said.

Background

The Basongora and Bakonzo) were considered squatters at Ibuga refugee settlement camp and Ibuga prisons land in Karusandara Sub-county  in the 1980s and 1990’s.

The government relocated both groups in 2002 to Kayanja villages (I and II), where they reside alongside the army todate.