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Blame your elite leaders for rampant land evictions, Museveni tells Luweero
President Museveni addressing a rally at Kalule Village in Luweero District on August 10, 2024. PHOTO/DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
- Museveni says residents are helpless in the face of evictions because they voted elites in the district mostly led by opposition NUP party politicians.
President Museveni has said residents in Luweero District, which was the epicenter of the five-year guerrilla war that ushered his government into power in 1986, should blame their current leaders for the rampant land evictions in the district.
“When you elect elites as your leaders without considering their ability to help you, the results are what we are witnessing in cases where you remain helpless as you get evicted from land,” Museveni at a public rally at Kalule Village, Nyimbwa Sub-county in Luweero District on Saturday.
According to him, “inaction by a section of elected leaders including legislators and councillors whenever people are evicted should not be blamed on the NRM government, but the voters.”
Luweero, which has over the years been the ruling NRM party stronghold was taken over by Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) which won all parliamentary seats in the area as well as district chairperson seat.
NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine also defeated Museveni in the district during the 2021 presidential election, garnering 103,782 votes (70.45 percent) against Museveni’s 41,166 votes (27.94 percent).
“It is true that we have had a troubled land ownership history dating back to colonial times but this issue has been resolved by the Land Act. What are your leaders doing when the law is very clear about how one gets to acquire land already occupied legally (Bonafide),”? Museveni asked as he denounced what he termed as inaction by some leaders.
“You have talked about people in the powerful office and others in the security that are involved in the dubious land conflicts, but these particular cases should be documented for quick action. The examples that you have raised will be dealt with but should report the other cases to the office of the RDC for action,” he added.
Museveni told Luwero residents that no one is allowed to evict them from their ancestral land, even if they have land titles.
President Museveni gestures after commissioning the Kaguta Block at Excel Vocational Centre, Kalule Village in Luweero District on August 10, 2024. PHOTO/DAN WANDERA
Before addressing the rally, Museveni commissioned a two-storied multipurpose block at Excel Vocational Centre, which is owned by Bukomansimbi NRM District chairperson Shafiq Mwanje in Kalule.
About Luweero land issues
Greater Luweero is among the areas with rampant land evictions in Uganda. At the respective offices of the RDCs for Luweero, Nakaseke and Nakasongola, about 85 percent of the daily activities are linked to land related disputes between landlords and Bibanja holders.
In Luweero District’s Zirobwe Sub county and Town Council, about 300 households are currently threatened with eviction from land that covers 2 square miles. The affected residents in about seven villages are battling ownership related challenges with the respective landlords. Some of the villages include Bubuubi, Namakofu and Manyama in Zirobwe Sub county.
