Ssembabule family faces eviction amid lockdown

A family in Ssembabule District is living in fear of eviction from their land despite an order from government that no land transaction and eviction should be carried out during the lockdown forced by outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Joseph Mutabazi and his brother, Mr Ronald Mutabazi, reportedly inherited land from their late father Charles Mutabazi in 2002.
The brothers have since owned the property without any complaint until the President stopped public transport in a bid to fight the spread of the Covid-19.
On March 30, President Museveni ordered a two-week nationwide lockdown in a bid to combat further spread of the deadly coronavirus. The President on April 15 extended the lockdown for another 21 days to May 5.
The brothers say on March 18, Mr Denis Musinguzi, the district police commander, summoned them through their brother, Mr Ambrose Mutabazi, and their tenant, Mr David Mudenge.
The duo say Mr Musinguzi then ordered them to vacate the land with immediate effect.
They said the summon was followed by a Masaka Magistrate’s Court March 18 order, stopping them from using their land until further notice.
They said a one Isa Ssentongo and Ibrahim Wasswa applied for the court order. The court order was issued by Masaka chief magistrate, a one Deo John Ssejjemba, but bears Ssembabule court stamp.
Mr Ssentongo said he had no interest in the disputed land.
However, the two brothers say they have been facing several threats from individuals, including a one Amon Muzira, who brought workers on the said land on April 23.
Mr Muzira, who is claiming to have bought the land, claimed in a phone interview with Saturday Monitor recently that he bought the land although he did not reveal the seller.
“He warned our caretaker that he has access to all offices in the country and he is a son of a military general. He has been issuing threats to the caretaker and other individuals,” Mr Mutabazi said.
Mr Mudenge, the caretaker of the land, said the men came at night and pitched camp on the land, but fled when police intervened.
“When the police came, they took off, but Mr Muzira later called and warned that we would see the worst soon,” Mr Mudenge said.
He added that he reported the threats to Mr Nixon Kabuye, the deputy Resident District Commissioner.
But he said Mr Kabuye advised him that only his landlords were better placed to complain, not him as a tenant.

Deputy RDC's take
Mr Nixon Kabuye, the deputy RDC, faulted the land owners for their absence and said it would be hard for him to handle the matter via phone. “Offices don’t work on phone, tell the son of late Mutabazi to come to my office and I figure out what to do. I can’t direct the police to do anything when the complainant is absent. Let him come to Ssembabule and we find a way of helping, but for now, I can do nothing,” Mr Kabuye said. He advised the complainants to allow the caretaker to take decisions on their behalf. But Mr Muzira insisted: “I went to court and I got rights and I made transfers in the Ministry of Lands. I followed the law and I have my documents. For now I’m waiting for the lockdown to end and I sue them for criminal trespass.”