UGANDA, Mityana | Real Muloodi News | Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has recently warned Ugandans to be cautious of land brokers who present themselves as intermediaries in land issues, citing the mess they create in land disputes.
She took on land brokers who are fueling illegal land evictions warning that they will be arrested and prosecuted in the courts of law.
Speaking at a meeting in Namigave Village, Kikandwa Sub-County in Mityana District in late March this year, Nabakooba urged residents to be vigilant of such people who promise to acquire land titles or letters of administration on their behalf.
The minister’s visit followed a recent eviction of several residents from 80,250 acres and one square mile of land allegedly by Ddungu Buuza.
Buuza is accused of obtaining ownership of the disputed land through deceptive means that included posturing himself as a land broker.
Nabakooba discovered that most of the issues surrounding the disputed land were caused by Buuza’s actions posing as a broker, noting that they have no right to mitigate or apportion the land.
In the meeting held to ease the tension, Nabakooba advised residents to be careful of people who present themselves as land brokers, especially those who take advantage of people’s ignorance and financial stability.
She emphasised the need to report such individuals to authorities immediately. She also noted that the challenge they usually face is that some people take too long to report land problems to authorities, exacerbating the situation.
Nabakooba said, “I urge you to be extremely careful of the kind of people who come to you as brokers. Some of these people will want to take advantage mostly when they learn that you do not have knowledge of certain land matters and processes. The challenge we usually face is that some of you get into land problems and take long to report the matter to the authorities. Please always report these issues early enough.”
The Complaints
During the meeting, one family claimed that they consulted Buuza, whom they considered a trusted friend, on how to obtain letters of administration.
The family members asked Buuza to help them get land titles for their 30-acre piece of land.
According to David Mpiima, one of the family members, they resolved to sell the land to Buuza for UGX 450 million after he promised to pay the money over time.
“Buuza came to us when we had disagreements as a family. We asked him to help us get letters of administration and land titles for our land which he agreed to do,” Mpiima said, adding that they resolved to sell to Buuza 30 acres of land at a cost of USh450m.
However, Buuza convinced them to write an agreement showing they had sold the land to him before paying them.
“We trusted Buuza because he was a family friend. So, we entered into an agreement with him that he had bought 30 acres of land. We did not question his motives because we thought he would eventually pay up,” Mpiima said.
Buuza’s False Claims
At the centre of the dispute were accusations and counter-accusations of Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Africano Aharikundira, whom residents claimed conspired with Buuza to defraud them of their land.
The residents accused Aharikundira of protecting and colluding with Buuza to render them homeless.
“We are skeptical of our RDC. We believe he has been working with Ddungu who has been making our life hard by rendering us homeless after dgrabbing of our land,” a woman who preferred anonymity said.
However, the Busunju Police Station officer in charge John Mafabi urged the residents to remain calm and informed them that Buuza had been arrested to bring him to order.
Mafabi stated that Buuza sold the locals a false narrative that he was closely working with the RDC, something he said was untrue.
He added that this could have prompted the residents to think that the RDC was a conspirator.
Thorough Investigation Promised
The minister assured the residents that the lands ministry would thoroughly investigate the matter to get to the bottom of it.
“We are going to investigate these allegations. We need to know how exactly Buuza was able to get the land title,” she said, adding that if it is true that he defrauded the residents, all agreements made would be cancelled by the High Court.”
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