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Diocese suspends activities as land disputes with locals escalate
A section of wall fence around Church land at Nakanyonyi Village in Mukono District which has been pulled down by locals fighting for the same land. PHOTO | JESSICA SABANO
What you need to know:
- One of the workers at a Shoes and Garments factory, Ms Ruth Nabatanzi said the attackers attempted to gain entry into the factory but were blocked.
Mukono Diocesan leaders have indefinitely suspended all activities at Nakanyonyi Church of Uganda in Nakifuma-Naggalama Town Council after unknown people attacked and pulled down a section of the wall fence erected around the disputed land. The incident happened in the wee hours of Monday morning.
The diocese had started erecting the one-kilometre perimeter wall to guard the land against encroachment.
Last week, unknown panga-wielding assailants attacked Glovers Wilcox School Mission, located on the same disputed land and injured two tutors - Samuel Kamuze and Herbert Mwene.
In the Sunday night raid, the attackers descended on Nakanyonyi Secondary and Primary schools and a Church shoes and garment factory located in the same area with intention of injuring the workers. Fortunately, the security guards manning the factory fired bullets into the air thus dispersing the attackers.
According to Mr John Ssebude, the Mukono Diocese provost, the security situation is worsening in Nakanyonyi and called for government intervention.
"We decided to suspend all Church activities in Nakanyonyi until the security of our people in the area is guaranteed," he said.
Successive attacks on diocesan institutions in Nakanyonyi are blamed on a long-standing land dispute between the Church and residents. The Church accuses residents of illegally occupying a 400-acre piece of land in the area.
Part of the land at Nakanyonyi is used for cattle and piggery farming, maize growing, and cottage industry. It also hosts Glovers Wilcox College of Mission and Evangelism, which trains Church lay readers.
Although residents claim to have settled on the land for more than 30 years, diocesan leaders insist they acquired the contested land in 1926 from the British government and squatters have since been securing plots of land with the help of village council leaders.
One of the workers at a Shoes and Garments factory, Ms Ruth Nabatanzi said the attackers attempted to gain entry into the factory but were blocked.
"Our lives are in danger and it is good that we have been ordered to leave this area,” she said.
Mr Jackson Ntwatwa, a lawyer representing residents said both warring parties (residents and Church) need to sit and resolve the long-standing land dispute.
“I don’t think pulling ropes will help any of the two parties. They need to calm down and look for a lasting solution to that dispute,” he said.
On Thursday, Lands Minister, Ms Judith Nabakooba met Church leaders at the diocesan headquarters and asked residents occupying the land to respect the Church.
In 2016, angry tenants attempted to harm a delegation of 35 bishops led by the former Archbishop Stanley Ntagali as they inspected another piece of land in Ntawo Village in Mukono Town. After the inspection of the land ended, a group of people who were meeting at a nearby bar, confronted the prelates, hurled insults at them and threatened to lynch them.
The mob brought match boxes and dry grass and threatened to set a bus which had transported the bishops to the site, on fire. Police swiftly intervened and dispersed the mob.
This particular piece of land is currently being developed by Uganda Christian University, an institution of the Church. It is currently being occupied by more than 800 tenants.
