UGANDA, Kalungu | Real Muloodi News | The prison authorities and the residents of Bukulula village in Kalungu district are in a bitter land dispute. The conflict is over a 49-acre piece of land owned by the Buganda Kingdom. It houses over 700 tenants, the Bukulula prison sub-county headquarters and the Health centre IV.
The residents claim that the prison authorities are harassing them in an attempt to take over their plantations.
Mr Paul Mwanje, a resident of the land, said, “some 15 inmates went to my garden and started spraying the crops with dangerous herbicides and cut down my banana plantations.”
He said he has tenancy certificates from the Buganda Land Board (BLB), yet prison authorities are still trying to chase him away from his land.
He adds, “it is unfortunate that the kingdom has not helped us, yet we are bona fide occupants on the land. My three-acre kibanja (plot) is registered by the Buganda Land Board.”
Rosette Nansubuga and Claudia Namugenyi, also residents cultivating on the disputed land, claim that prison authorities ruthlessly took over their plantations. Ms Namugenyi adds that the prison administration has failed to co-exist peacefully with the neighbouring tenants.
On the other hand, the Officer in Charge of Bukulula Sub County Prison, Mr Steven Abaho, claims that the residents fail to co-exist peacefully with the prison facility. He says the residents provoke the inmates and wardens whenever they leave to go to work.
The Buganda Deputy Representative in Buddu County, Mr Abdullah Kato, said, “we are currently in negotiations with top prison authorities to resolve this land dispute, but I am surprised that their juniors in Kalungu are torturing Kabaka’s people. That might affect the negotiations.”
He argues that the Prison Administration has disregarded the warnings against intimidating residents. He continues to claim that the Prison Administration ignores “harmonization meetings” and “does not meet their tenancy obligations.” Consequently, he has appealed to the Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons.
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