We welcome ruling stopping eviction of bibanja holders

On July 17, the High Court in Kampala made a landmark decision on a matter of greater significance. Justice Bernard Namanya of the Land Division, ended impunity that had perpetuated illegal eviction of citizens due to lack of clarity on the equitable interest of bibanja holders on titled land.

The judge ruled that a purchaser of any piece of land has a duty to inspect the land and make a full inquiry about anything which appears inconsistent with the title offered by a vendor. In view of that, the law mandates all landlords to recognise their third party rights before carrying out a land sale.

For far too long, millions of bona fide bibanja holders, who are not refugees from one of the troubled neighbouring countries, but citizens by birth and with full rights to live in Uganda, have suffered at the hands of money-oriented landlords and well-connected land dealers – the mafias targeting Ugandans without land titles, especially in Buganda.

Last year, President Museveni banned all land evictions in the country that are carried out without the consent of the respective District Security Committees. The President had requested the Chief Justice (CJ) to prevail upon the justices and magistrates who violate the Constitution by illegally evicting people in collusion with land grabbers. He directed the Attorney General to take legal action against the culprits.

Regrettably, some Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), if not all, ignored the President’s directives and they are now part of the problem. They collude with police officers and land dealers who sometimes use State House cover or a powerful army officer to force villagers to share land. They have become a menace in the villages. We appeal to the President to punish the RDCs and other fraudulent government officials.

We applaud Justice Namanya’s ruling because some Ugandans are now refugees in their own country. Some are either internally displaced, living in fear of evictions or forced to share their bibanja with mafias. Some bona fide bibanja holders have been killed in these senseless evictions and others lost property worth millions of shillings.

We also urge the President to implement the recommendations of the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led commission of inquiry into land matters. The team unearthed a syndicate between judicial officers and government officials, especially the RDCs and others who connive with some greedy landlords to evict poor bibanja holders from their ancestral land. This has been happening in total disregard of the law.

It’s a conundrum overlooked for long yet it requires government action before the time bomb explodes. We must stop bogus eviction orders and corrupt surveyors targeting poor bibanja holders in the villages. Let’s condemn bogus judgements and orders in the eviction of bibanja holders, and once more request the CJ and the entire Judiciary leadership to protect Ugandans from land grabbers and senseless evictions.