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Buganda officials uproot signposts over land row
One of the signposts that the late Kalya family erected at Kayunga Sub-county offices on March 4. PHOTO | FRED MUZAALE
What you need to know:
- During a recent mediation meeting between Kalya’s family, Kayunga Sub-County, Kayunga Town council leaders, Buganda Kingdom and Brig James Kinaalwa convened by the former Resident District Commissioner, Mr Ssempala Kigozi, the Kingdom failed to produce a land title.The Kalya
The controversy surrounding the ownership of land housing Kayunga Town Council and Kayunga Sub-county has taken a new twist, with Buganda Kingdom officials uprooting signposts placed at the site by a family claiming ownership of the contested land.
The family of the late Malaki Kalya had erected signposts with inscriptions “Kalya Estates, Land not for sale or lease” on the land after claiming ownership. They insist they possess a land title.
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This land ownership row has been on for long, prompting the Resident District Commissioner’s office and other relevant district officials to intervene to have it amicably resolved, but in vain.
However, last week, Buganda Kingdom officials led by Ms Margaret Ssempala, a kingdom official in charge of Kayunga –Mumyuka sub-county, stormed the site and uprooted some of the signposts.
They also graded the land and planted grass before renovating one of the dilapidated Kingdom buildings.
“It seems some unscrupulous people took advantage of our weakness of not utilising the contested piece of land to grab it. We have now started using the land for sub-county projects,” Mr Rashid Lwanga, the deputy Buganda Kingdom chief in-charge of Kayunga sub-county, said on Wednesday.
He insists the disputed land belongs to Buganda Kingdom. The land row has left local leaders in Kayunga Town Council, Kayunga Sub-county and Kayunga District in panic.
The late Kalya family move sent shockwaves among district leaders, who had for long thought the land belonged to Buganda Kingdom.
The disputed land measures 10 acres.
On the land, are buildings built in the 1930s that belong to Buganda Kingdom and offices in which Kayunga Sub-county has been operating for more than 50 years. It is also on this same land that Kayunga Town council offices sit. The offices of both local administrative units are adjacent to each other.
Kalya family responds
Mr Musa Wamala, the administrator of late Kalya Estates, said they are not fighting the Buganda Kingdom, but they are demanding for what belongs to them.
“We (late Kalya’s family) shall not be dragged into petty wars and fighting for cheap popularity of uprooting and then erecting signposts, all we are saying is that the property is ours and we have documents to prove that,” Mr Wamala said.
He also took a swipe at Brig James Kinaalwa who is erecting a commercial building on the same contested piece of land.
“He is using his influence as a Brigadier to illegally construct on that land, but when he loses the case, we shall take over his building,” Mr Wamala said.
Buganda Land Board (BLB) spokesperson Dennis Bugaya scoffed at Kalya’s family for erecting a signpost on the land. “Ownership of land is not proven by signposts, it is proven by a land title, which we have,” Mr Bugaya said.
He said the family had not petitioned BLB over the matter. “When they formally write to us, we shall respond accordingly,” he added.
Mediation, ownership
During a recent mediation meeting between Kalya’s family, Kayunga Sub-County, Kayunga Town council leaders, Buganda Kingdom and Brig James Kinaalwa convened by the former Resident District Commissioner, Mr Ssempala Kigozi, the Kingdom failed to produce a land title.The Kalya
family has also issued a notice of intention to sue Brig Kinaalwa who they claim has defied orders by local authorities to vacate the contested land. But the UPDF officer says he bought the land from BLB.
Brig Kinaalwa, according to documents seen by this newspaper, bought the disputed land from BLB at Shs35m.
