MPIGI.The government through the Ministry of Landshas placed a caveat on a disputed piece of land stretching in five villages of Mpigi District.
The affected villages are Nundu, Kalagala, Nakibanga A, B, and D in Kayabwe Town Council.
According to Lands Minister , Ms Judith Nabakooba, the caveat will help the ministry halt all activities on the land to enable her technical team conduct boundary opening and ascertain the size and nature of tenure of the land.
“We don’t know whether it’s Kabaka land (Mailo) or public land. People have been paying annual Nominal Ground Rent (Busuulu) to Buganda Land Board for all the time, but someone else has a freehold title on the same land,” she said, during a meeting at Nakibanga UMEA Primary School last week .
According to Mr Joseph Kakande, the Nakibanga village chairperson, in July 2014, a man named Gonzaga Lukyamuzi, approached them claiming to have land titles for their villages which had different names; Christine Namata Block 253 plot 57, Gonzaga Lukyamuzi Block 253 plot 58, and Katonga Combined Holdings Uganda Limited on Plot 59.
“Through our investigations as residents we discovered that Gonzaga Lukyamuzi is the only person responsible for these titles. We don’t know him because we have lived on this piece of land for over 80 years, and it is our ancestral land. Our grandparents have lived on this land for many years,” he said.
Mr Kakande told the minister that the purported landlords have started partitioning their land without their knowledge, an implication that the land was sold.
He added that the way these title holders acquired the land is questionable. “Under the new land law, the sitting tenant is given first priority which was not given. Besides, the residents are not willing to lose their land to unknown people who might have acquired this land fraudulently.”
Ms Nabakooba said the existing titles will be cancelled citing fraud in processing it.
She instructed the ministry’s legal officer, Moses Ssekitto, to make investigations in the matter and find out the officials who processed the titles in 2013. This, she noted, will help police to trace them.
“We shall get them even if they are now out of service. They have to tell us who the neighbours were during that time because we expected signatures of locals on their acquisition documents,” she said.
“You have told me we have people who have lived on this land for over 80 years, why did they come in 2014 to claim ownership?” Ms Nabakooba asked.
She concluded by ruling that basing on the preliminary findings, the process that led to the issuance of the titles was null and void, and the titles will be cancelled.
“Let’s wait for public hearing to start on the process of canceling these titles.”the minister added
She also blamed the area land committees and district land boards for facilitating disputes on the land, claiming that most of them are bribed to fraudulently issue titles.
“Settle on your land. Don’t be shaken by anyone because you have a right as bibanja holders. Make your land productive because idle land makes it susceptible to land grabbers and conflicts.”
She equally instructed police to make sure that the status quo remains the same on this land not until the ministry’s report is out.
The chairperson District Land Board told the minister that Nakibanga has about 80 titles which were issued in the same way, asking her to give him one week to produce a report about the status of the land in the area.