Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, has intervened in land disputes in Mubende district caused by a one Paul Mafumu who residents accuse of trying to eveict them illegally .
It is alleged that Mafumu with the help of some officials on the Mubende District land Board, the local council chairperson and police are trying to evict hundreds of residents after they fraudulently obtained land titles now occupied by bibanja holders (bonafide occupants and tenants by occupancy ). Majority of the threatened residents are Buwekula South constituency.
Appearing before the Minister , the residents accused Mafumu of malicious damage to their property and threatening violence in the area .
Minister Nabakooba notes down complaints from the residents threatened with evictions in Mubende
“Our father died on 20 March 2019 before securing his land titles from the land office. Immediately after his death, Paul Mafumu came claiming ownership of land with titles on plot no. 306 and 304 resulting from administrative case numbers of 78 2016 and 63 2016,” Nakazibwe Hanifar, who represented the now deceased Nyanyitono Mustafa’s family whose land Mafumu claims ownership, stated.
Nakazibwe said her family has settled on the land since 1960 and had bought the plots from both Kevina Nankya and Kijambu Livingstone. A lady named Grace Namatovu who said she is a victim of Mafumu’s actions revealed that she had earlier acquired land from Nyonyitono family only to be violently evicted by Mafumu.
Namatovu said her farm produce was maliciously damaged by Mafumu’s men who threatened her life if she didn’t leave the plot of land. Nnalongo Nakakande, who is allegedly a victim of Mafumu, said she entrusted him to help her acquire the title for the land she is settled on, but nothing has been done todate.
“I entrusted Mafumu to help me get the title for my plot of land. He asked for details such as my national ID, and photos of my children who I wanted be included on the title. I also gave him my consent . He hasn’t done anything about it todate,” she told the Minister .
Nabakooba assures desperate mubende district about their land security
While addressing residents about the matter, Nabakooba urged the area leaders to compile a report detailing the genesis of the land conflicts. She also encouraged residents to acquire letters of administration for their land saying that the culprits usually take advantage of such loopholes.
“I encourage the family and other residents who could be in a similar situation to get letters of administration. These people usually take advantage if the learn that you have no official papers to help you claim ownership of your land,” she said, adding, “the area leaders should also compile a report detailing the genesis of the matter so that my office can clearly understand what is going on.”
“The land ministry is going to get to the heart of this problem. We need to investigate why officials at the ministry rushed to issue Mafumu the land titles, without first establishing what is on the ground .” Nabakooba told the desperate residents .
The Woman Member of Parliament (MP) Mubende District, Hope Grania Nakazibwe, encouraged residents to always report such cases of fraud to their national leaders including MPs to fend off land grabbers.
“One of the challenges we have as your leaders is that sometimes you keep quiet with these issues. I encourage you to always report land fraud cases early enough. This would help us get to the heart of the matter early,” she said.
The district Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Birunji Abubaker, however told Nabakooba they had tried to resolve some of the land issues in the area. He said some conflicts have however persisted despite their efforts.
Buwekola South MP Ndoli Williams Museveni said he had taken the matter to Parliament so an amicable solution can be reached. Ndoli assured the lands minister that him and other area leaders would compile a report detailing the genesis of the land conflicts in the area.
