State House orders UPDF to vacate Nwoya disputed land
Mr Edward Sunday Ochieng (right) talks to Capt Emmanuel Oloya Lugar (2nd right) and his brothers who had refused to open the gate for State House officials and residents for the meeting on March 24. PHOTO | TOBBIAS JOLLY OWINY
The State House Directorate of Lands has ordered the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers to cease operations and withdraw from a disputed land at Lebngec Upper Village, Longulu Sub-county in Nwoya District.
The officials were in the district for a fact-finding mission on March 24 following a petition to the President’s office in which locals asked to restrain the army from torturing and assaulting them.
Speaking during the meeting at Lebngec Upper Village, Mr Edward Sunday Ochieng, the assistant private secretary to the President on Lands, said the soldiers were not only deployed illegally but had blocked locals and registered land owners from accessing their properties.
“The land belongs to Uganda Land Commission and if he (Capt Emmanuel Oloya Luger, a UPDF officer attached to UPDF 3rd Division) brings soldiers to guard the land, he is not only violating the rights of the other land users but also illegally claiming ownership of land,” Mr Ochieng said.
In November 2020, Capt Oloya deployed a team of seven soldiers to guard the land. The team also forcefully evicted 31 families and fenced the land.
While evicting the residents, Capt Oloya said he was carrying out the evictions on the orders of State House.
When asked during the meeting to explain his actions, Capt Oloya instead told the team to challenge him in court.
Although he claimed that the soldiers were his bodyguards and did not assault anyone, Capt Oloya could not prove that the soldiers were assigned to him as bodyguards from the UPDF 4th Division.
“I am asking the District Police Commissioner (DPC), DISO, and the security team who are here to remove that gate today, let Capt Oloya go to court himself. Let it be removed and we see his soldiers kill us,” Mr Ochieng said.
Meanwhile, Lt Patrick Mindra, the Nwoya UPDF commandant, said the army was investigating the accusations against the soldiers and that the culprits would be prosecuted.
Mr Ochieng ordered the DPC to block any form of eviction on the land and asked the evicted to re-occupy land as investigations continue.
The petition
In a February 19 letter, one of the petitioners Prof Ogenga Otunnu asked the President to prevail and assist him to recover Yusto Otunnu’s (his dad) 800 acres of land located at Lebngec Upper Village that had been grabbed by Capt Oloya.
“In November 2020, Capt Oloya, who had no legitimate claim of the land, violently seized the land and the surrounding on claims that he was directed by the State House,” Prof Otunu wrote.
Locals asked the President to stop their eviction from the 5,200 acres of land, claiming that they have been under constant threats, torture, and intimidation by soldiers illegally deployed by Capt Emmanuel Oloya Luger, a UPDF officer attached to UPDF 3rd Division in Moroto District.
This newspaper established that Capt Oloya is claiming 3,100 acres of the land, according to survey documents.
The Nwoya District police commander, Mr Filbert Waibi, said land conflicts have continued to escalate in the district due to failure by the locals to document their land.
It was discovered during the meeting that none of the victims or the petitioners had a land title to warrant the legal claim of the land, including Capt Oloya, except Ms Santa Opiyo Lukone, whose lease title for 528 acres of land expires this year.
Records indicate that Dr Yusto Otun nu, applied for 800 acres of land for a period of 49 years from Gulu Land Office on October 20, 1980, although, a title was never issued and the process has since been pending.
