Minister of Lands ,Housing and urban Development ,Hon. Judith Nabakooba has held a dialogue with residents of Karusandara, Busongora Constituency in Kasese district assured assured them the her ministry will resolved all the land problems in the area .
The residents petitioned Minister Nabakooba about unresolved land conflicts in the four parishes of Kanamba, Karusandara, Kibuga and Kyalyanga. The disputed land measures approximately 4590 hectares and it was curved off Mubuku Prisons and Mubuku irrigation scheme which is all government land.
Over 25000 people have been occupying this land since the 1960s.In a meeting convened at Kabusandara Sub-county headquarters, John Charles Mukiiza the LC3 of Kasandara Sub-county told the minister that locals are having sleepless night and leaving in fear due to delays in implementation of a presidential pledge to secure the land for the residents currently occupying it .
“During President Yoweri Museveni ‘s last visit to the area he directed that land issues in the area be resolved by the Ministry of Lands and land titles be given to the occupants but nothing has been done ,’ Mukiiza told the Minister.
In her remarks,Minister Nabakooba expressed government’s commitment to ensure security of Tenure of people occupying the land . She explained that a title will be created first in the name of Uganda Land Commission, which is a government agency in charge of administering government land. After that process is completed ,Nabakooba said land officers from her ministry will visit the area and engage with the local residents to establish the status of the land and then a permanent settlement of the issue will be agreed upon.
“I have come to assure you that this year- the issues in regard to this land will be resolved because the president sent me to iron this out. I have been speaking to the staff at the lands offices in Kasese. The title will be out in a week,” Nakabooka told the cheering residents .
She urged the zonal officers to call upon the district leadership and the RDC once the title is out so that it can be shown to the people she sends a team from the ministry to to work on the other processes to ensure that residents land rights are protected . Nabakooba called on the residents not to politicize the matter.
“Land is your security and it is one of those many things that affect you directly, it is not good to politicize it. If we come out as a government to commit to handling land issues in an area, what we want from you is to give us the necessary support to see that we attain what the president has promised you.”.
After meeting the residents, the minister met with the top leadership of the district and the RDC to discuss more issues pertaining to land in the district for a permanent solution.
