UGANDA, Kassanda | Real Muloodi News | Over 20,000 residents of Kassanda District are sighing with relief, knowing that their land eviction fears have been erased now that President Museveni has allocated public land to them.
The behind-the-scenes intervention by a spirited team resulted in President Yoweri Museveni making a directive to allocate the land to the residents of Kitumbi Sub County, Kassanda District, thereby guaranteeing the economic livelihoods of the people sitting on the land measuring 1,214 hectares.
The land had been leased to two people in 1977, Fred Drake Ndiwalana and Mathias Balera Kayihura, for a period of 44 years.
Their lease expired in September last year, prompting a large number of wealthy investors to apply for a lease on the said land. This spurred the occupants to petition the President during the presidential campaigns.
Investigations show that Mubende District Land Board had wrongly awarded a new lease to unknown people, yet the land was under the governance of Uganda Land Commission.
The Kassanda District security committee, headed by Phoebe Namulindwa, found that the looming eviction would have been a recipe for disaster.
Accordingly, she requested the government to halt lease renewals, ensure clarity and explained that in so doing, the government would save public funds that would be used for crucial priority areas rather than making costly compensations.
The livelihoods of over 20,000 people were at stake. The ripple effect of eviction would have negatively impacted economic activity in the villages of Kalyabulo, Kazinga, Kyengera, Muyenga, Lubaali LCI, and Wandagi.
Several institutions, including schools and health facilities, are now beneficiaries of the generosity of President Museveni’s directive. One of the institutions on the brink of being wiped out is the prominent Lubaali Preparatory School, sitting partly on a five-hectare portion owned by educationist Nathan Bulime.
Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Judith Nabakooba delivered the news to the elated residents that their economic livelihoods have been guaranteed by the communication of the President, at a meeting held at Lubaali Village.
The move aims to fulfill one of the National Resistance Movement party promises to eradicate land evictions and fight land grabbers.
In a follow up against countrywide land evictions, President Museveni, in a letter dated February 28, 2022, addressed to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, issued an embargo on land evictions without the approval of the local District Security Committees (DSC).
The letter also implored Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo to impress judicial officers and use tact and wisdom to ensure stability on land matters.
It should be recalled that the issue of land evictions and allegations against judicial officers being complicit with land grabbers featured prominently in the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters.
The Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led commission, instituted by President Museveni, heard harrowing tales of purported betrayal by Judicial officers. Unfortunately, none of the judicial officers cited could be put to task to set the record straight. The veil of privilege was never lifted, so they never appeared at the commission proceedings to give testimony.
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