Residents petition Museveni over delayed compensation

Residents of Kikoni Parish, Ntungamo Sub-county in Ntungamo Municipality have petitioned the President over developed compensation, following the takeover of their land by the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs to construct a barracks.

Rev Francis Bamunoba, the chairperson of the Kikoni Bariisa Barungi Cooperative Society, said they were contacted by the ministry in 2017 to provide land for the construction of a barracks but they have since learnt that some compensation was paid to another group of people, who formed a community-based organisation (CBO), opened an account and withdrew the money for their own use.

“As a cooperative, we have never received any money. There is a group of three people, who opened an account as a CBO and got it. When they received money, they tried to bribe individual members out. We also understand they received half of what they were to compensate us,” Rev Bamunoba said yesterday.

Land measuring 117 acres was taken over by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Ministry of Defence in 2018 to construct the 9th Battalion headquarters. A barracks was established and currently hosts a brigade of soldiers on Plot 41 Block 8.

Rev Bamunoba said because there was an effort to deny them information on compensation, they hired a private investigator to probe the matter, whose report was released in December 2022.

“The Ministry of Defence, which claims to have purchased the land title from Kikoni Bariisa Barungi Cooperative Society Limited, paid a wrong party in the names of Kikoni Bariisa Barungi Community…, which neither exists nor possesses a land title,” part of the report by Rwombamu Security Services, a private company hired to investigate the matter, reads in part.

The report further states that the valuation report was never given to the cooperative, no transaction documents were given to the seller and members never negotiated the sell.

“The officials from the Defence ministry, who acted adamantly without due diligence to find the right owner of the said land title, which caused the government to pay a ghost seller, should be tasked to refund the same money and be prosecuted for embezzlement,” a petition dated August 22, to the presidential assistant, Mr Apollo Mabati, who initiated the investigations, states.

The petitioners have urged President Museveni to intervene and save them.

“We members of the above mentioned society (Kikoni Bariisa Barungi Cooperative Society) request you to do us a favour, intervene and solve our problems. Let Ministry of Defence sit with us and we negotiate until we reach an agreement,” the petition further reads.

Mr Bamunoba said they attempted to reach President Museveni at his home on August 27 but were blocked by security personnel.

The Ministry of Defence and UPDF spokesman, Brig Felix Kulaigye, said he was not cognizant with the details of the transaction.

“I do not have facts on the issue, I will consult the permanent secretary for details and call you back,” Brig Kulaigye said.

However, on following up the matter, he told this reporter that he had not been availed details yet.