Police, Lira leaders fight over land

Lira District leadership and the Uganda Police Force (UPF) are wrangling over ownership of three plots of land in Lira Municipality.

The three contested plots of land are near Erute Prisons, Central and Ojwina divisions.
Misunderstandings over who is the rightful owner of the contested plots erupted at the time when the district wants to develop the unoccupied vast land.

Background
Authorities in Lira claim they once gave the land to Ministry of Internal Affairs purposely for the establishment of administrative offices of the defunct Local Administration Police (LAP), adding that when LAP was disbanded and integrated into Uganda Police Force, they claimed ownership of the land.

However, the police claim they inherited the land from LAP and that Lira District does not have any right whatsoever to develop the plots.

The houses at Ireda Housing Estate that were previously occupied by the staff of police currently accommodate Lira District civil servants.

The district leadership has also rented out some the houses to other people, including businesspersons and lawyers.
Part of the disputed land in Erute hosts North Kyoga regional police headquarters; Police Professional Standards Unit offices and Land Complaints Desk.

The contention
The regional police spokesperson, Mr David Ongom Mudong, told Daily Monitor that the district now wants to give the land in Erute to a private developer whom he did not name. Mr Ongom has described the move as unlawful and warned that the police will block “such ill-intentions”.
“The Police Act is very clear on this. When UPF took over LAP, it took [control over] everything, including staff, property and land,” the police spokesperson said on Thursday last week.

On September 11, Ms Christine Nanding from the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), wrote to former North Kyoga regional police commander, Mr John Peter Ematu, indicating that the contested land falls under UPF.
The letter instructed the regional police commander to take possession of the land and ensure effective investigations of the case arising from it.

Mr Mark Tivu, the Lira Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), said the district local government legally owns the land and vowed to protect it.
He explained the contested plots in Ireda and Ojwina Division were taken over by the district in 2006 soon after the disbandment of LAP.
“When the transition took place, police left the land and the properties were reverted to Lira District. This land has been managed by the district since 2006 to date. The new Akii-Bua site was part of this land and the district donated it to the Ministry of Education and Sports for the development of Akii-Bua Stadium,” Mr Tivu said.

The integration of LAP into UPF required that the properties belonging to and used by LAP be transferred to UPF.
Mr Tivu said the Police Act is silent on which assets were to be reverted back to UPF.