UGANDA, Sembabule | Real Muloodi News | Gorreth Namugga, Mawogola South MP, has stopped surveyors from opening the borders of the disputed land in Kamuli Village, Miteete Sub-county, Sembabule District.
On September 17, Joseph Ssemakula, one of the claimants to the 350-acre plot of land populated by almost 700 people, engaged the two surveyors.
Ssemakula maintains he is the legal owner of the land, while the late Joseph Kafeero’s children insist the former sold it to their father in 1984.
Ms Namugga charged the surveyors with obtaining introduction letters and a letter from local leaders permitting them to survey the area, which they (surveyors) failed to do.
According to Ms Namugga, the two surveyors were brandishing pangas, endangering the lives of locals.
“I had to stop the exercise to first establish ownwership through the Lands ministry,” the lawmaker said.
Baker Byayi Ssenyonga, the Miteete Sub-county Chairperson, advised the two warring groups against “evicting tenants who are lawful occupants.”
Mr Ssenyonga, a resident of the same property, claims that because they were unaware of the landowner’s identity for more than 20 years, they had not been paying the modest ground rent.
“We knew that it belonged to the late Joseph Kafeero and now another claimant is here and we are scared that our people might be affected,” Mr Ssenyonga said.
According to Mr Fred Ssegawa, a son of the late Joseph Kafeero, a sales contract that Mr Ssemakula allegedly signed is in the family’s possession.
“We went to the Masaka land office and placed a caveat on this land after realising that Ssemakula and his sons had started forging papers for our land,” he claimed.
Mr John Bosco Lubega, the secretary of Kamuli Village, stated that the village committee recognises Ssemakula as the landlord since he identified himself to them in 2012.
He also questioned why Kafeero’s family was being brought up now.
Mr Paul Mukiibi, Ssemakula’s son who claims to be the administrator of his father’s estate, maintains his father never sold the land to anyone.
“Even if the process of surveying the land is halted, we shall come back because we need to know where our land begins and stops so that we can redevelop it,” Mr Mukiibi said.
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