Tension is simmering between more than 30,000 residents living in 11 villages on Busii Island, Wakiso District, and a purported landlord who claims ownership of the same land they have occupied for many years.
Mr Solomon Nsubuga Mukasa, a land dealer, according to local authorities, successfully separated blocks 554-571 Busiro to enable the Registrar of Titles to process certificates of title for land situated on Block 567-569, Plot 7, for the beneficiary of late Adoniya Kaaya Sembuya Mukasa, the said original owner of the estate.
Mr Charles Mukalazi, the chairperson of Bussi Sub-county, said the separation of the blocks has created panic among residents in the 11 villages in three parishes of Tebankiza, Gulwe and Bussi.
“The Ministry of Lands team came previously to do the separation of blocks, which were combined, but we failed to agree on the terms and procedures of how this was to be done,” he says.
Mr Mukalazi says the disputed piece of land originally belonged to Sir Apollo Kaggwa, a former prime minister of Buganda Kingdom, but the estate was later divided among his children, who later sold it to the current landlords.
He says stakeholders in Bussi previously held a meeting with Ministry of Lands officials before the separation of blocks and they realised there were conflicts of interest, which would bring some challenges in the registration of land titles.
“After convening the meeting, we protested whatever was going to happen and we suggested that they should come and intervene with the landlords so that they can settle that issue amicably,” Mr Mukalazi said.
To their dismay, the sub-county chairperson says the Ministry of Lands officials went ahead to separate the blocks without the consent of the current landlords and local leaders.
“We are now advising the current landlords to mobilise themselves and have uniformity of their land title status, and later develop a file comprising all landlords legally registered by the Lands Ministry to iron out the issues,” he says.
Among the affected landlords is the former Workers’ legislator, Dr Sam Lyomoki.
“We are worried because it [the process of separating blocks] affects all of us. Some pieces of land are overlapping thus encroaching on Lake Victoria buffer zones, which is illegal,” he says.
Mr William Kaddu, a landlord in Bugera Village whose piece of land sits on Block 573 Plots 4,5,6,7,8,9,10, and 11, claims that he has been shifted to Gulwe Village without his consent.
Maj Gen (Rtd) Michael Ondoga, another affected landlord, says they need to involve leaders in the district to first establish facts about the disputed land.
“Someone cannot just wake up one day to separate blocks, In fact no one knew they were even combined. Let’s look deep into this matter and establish the truth,” he suggests.
Second Lieutenant (Rtd) John Kiwanuka, the Bussi Sub-county area land committee chairperson, says…