Lands, Housing and Urban Development minister, Judith Nabakooba, has vowed to arrest and hold accountable landlords tormenting locals of Bufuuma-Ntundiro village, Kakindu Sub County in Mityana District.
James Ntambaazi Musoke who claims to be the owner of the land in this area has evicted some bibanja holders, destroyed their gardens and threatened to arrest whoever tries to fight him. Other affected villages are; Bubanzi, Kawanjuki and Kanyogoga.
The situation caught minister Nabakooba’s attention and moved in to intervene , warning Ntambaazi against making more transactions on the grabbed bibanja holdings and engaging in further forceful evictions.
“Let him come back and do more evictions, destroy anyone’s garden or demolish someone’s house. We shall deal with him,” a furious Nabakooba warned, adding that if he has big people in the government as he claims, “we shall see when he is in custody.”
The minister directed the chairperson of Bufuuma village Mr Elusaama Kasawuli, to register all the bibanja holders on the land whose plots of land were grabbed and those still on the land but living in fear of evictions.
Mr Kasawuli reported to the minister – a court clerk (name withheld) who was working in Mityana Court before being transferred to Mubende, being an aide to the alleged land grabber.
The minister assured locals that the problems of land grabbing in the area will be resolved, promising that she will engage the Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, or alternatively take the matter to President Museveni.
“I’m going to go through the court documents and see where the court based to rule in the land grabber’s favour. Chief Justice is the head of all judges, I believe he will deal with them,” Nabakooba stated.
In the meantime, the minister instructed the police in the area to ensure Ntambaazi doesn’t trespass on the disputed land.
“I’m also going to put a caveat on this land to ensure no more transactions take place. If he claims it’s his land, why does he sell it immediately after grabbing it from bibanja owners?” she asked.
Mr Huudu Ssemwogerere, a retired head teacher explained how his kibanja with trees ready for harvest was taken and trees sold by Ntambaazi. He has nowhere to get school fees for his children and lives a miserable life.
“Since the term began, our children have not yet reported back because we even fled the house for fear of our lives. We have no food because Ntambaazi is threatening to grab even the remaining portion of the land.”
His wife, Hadijah Ssemwogerere recounted the struggles she went through to plant the mango garden and trees to raise school fees for her children when her husband retires.
“We had sold trees to someone at Shs20 million, hoping this money would help us sustain our children at school for some time but here we are- it was taken and the person we had sold the trees told us to refund his Shs30 million because he had taken a loan from money lenders,” she told the minister..
Among other affected bibanja holders is Robert Kalyesubula who bought his kibanja in 1994 but Ntambaazi whom they claim came in 2018, is tormenting them.
He expressed dissatisfaction over ruling by a court in Mubende, saying “he (Ntambaazi) said we cannot win in court because he is rich.”
About the land
According to Mr Kasawuli, the land on this Mailo belonged to Alipo Mukasa who died several decades ago and left behind two children; Nababi and Nambooze who are in their 90s. Those landlords allegedly gave powers to their grandchildren to take over the land and among whom include Ntambaazi.
