Police officers accused of illegal land eviction  

Residents of Kajjansi in Entebbe Municipality have petitioned the police Professional Standards Unit (PSU) to investigate their officers for illegal eviction from land on the Kajjansi-Munyonyo spur off the Entebbe Expressway.
The petition signed by Mohammed Ssewaya on behalf of other tenants, who were evicted in July last year, accuses police officers of evicting them without a court order.

“We are writing to request your urgent intervention to help save us from the unscrupulous actions of police being used by Jamada Musisi through his company Kimonyogo Investments,” they wrote on March 8. 

Mr Sewaya mentioned Kampala Metropolitan commander Moses Kafeero, Kajjansi District Police Commander Apollo Kyangungu, Kajjansi officer-in-charge of Land Unit, and commander of the police Land Protection Unit Charles Mutungi.
 “We as bibanja holders have been struggling to reclaim [our land] from Kikonyogo Investments without much success as we are always blocked by police who protect Jamada [Musisi] and his henchmen,” the petition read in part.
 
Mr Mutungi denied allegations that he was given land by Mr Kikonyogo to evict the tenants, but added that the case was in court and he could not speak much about it.
“The little I know about that is that the case is in court, so the petitioners or any claimant who has issues know where to address them. That said, I don’t own land there,” he said.

The police Criminal Intelligence Department (CID) spokesperson, Mr Charles Twine, said he had not seen the petition but added that the matter would be investigated if the complaint was registered.
“I don’t know about the petition but if it was addressed to PSU, they will investigate the matter since the officers accused are ours,” Mr Twine said.

Mr Musisi, however, insisted the land belongs to him. 
Mr Ssewaya said on July 19 last year, three trucks carrying police officers raided Kitiko-Birongo Village at 6am, beat up the residents and demolished their houses and plantations. 
The residents have also appealed to President Museveni on the same issue and want him to help them regain their land. 
They say the eviction happened at a time when government had suspended all land evictions during the Covid-19 lockdown last year. 

The residents are also complaining that Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) has also not compensated them for their land where the road project passed.
The State Minister for Lands, Ms Persis Namuganza, said the tenants were supposed to be compensated but were instead evicted without compensation.
The Unra spokesperson, Mr Allan Ssempebwa, said the first compensation was made after some tenants and the landlord reached consent.