Encroachers on Jinja Golf Club land given five months to vacate
A man ferries his harvest from a garden nearby the contested golf land on March 26, 2024. Management has given encroachers five months to leave the land for development. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA
What you need to know:
- Jinja Golf Club was established in 1912 and plans are underway to further develop the facility.
Encroachers on the Jinja Golf Club land on the shores of Lake Victoria and River Nile banks have been given five months to vacate the property for its further development.
The five-month grace period is to enable them harvest their crops and relocate their banana suckers elsewhere.
The club’s trustee member, who is also the former Jinja West Member of Parliament Andrew Kasigwa, said there are plans for expanding the club.
“There are plans for expansion of this club and the people approached to do the plan told us to avail all the available land that belongs to the club for proper planning,” Kasigwa said on Tuesday.
The affected people are those who have been digging on the River Nile bank and the shores of Lake Victoria, specifically on the land owned by the club, and those who have illegally constructed facilities on the land.
Club secretary Edgar Rujumba Junior said they need the land to be put to good use, adding that Jinja City Council has issued an undisclosed demand notice for ground rent.
Busoga sub-region Environmental Police Officer Emmanuel Esabu told Monitor that the cultivators' activities on the said land are "illegal and punishable".
He noted that the area is one of the special conservation areas on which cultivation and construction is prohibited by law, unless upon the issuance of an Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate by National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
The encroachers, however, demand compensation ahead of expiry of their grace period.
But Esabu says anybody who carries out an illegal activity on the shores or River Nile banks and swamps, or constructs on it cannot be compensated and facing the law.
Jane Ocida, the chairperson of Kyagwe in Old Mboma Cell, Jinja South City Division, said it is within the law that any activity on such land requires guidelines from the concerned authority.
Madina Kyosubira, whose husband has been working at the club, said they have been utilizing the land since 1987, supplementing the family with food.
“It is not going to be easy for some of us who have been cultivating on that land for all these years to leave without securing where to dig to get food for our family,” Kyosubira noted.
Joseph Owori, also a land user, said he has planted cassava that cannot mature within thd five-month period, saying he needs at least up to next year to harvest his cassava.
About Jinja Golf Club
It was established in 1912 with some dilapidated facilities that management is revamping, including a swimming pool, tennis and squash court, club house with snooker room, lockers, washrooms, bar and kitchen among other amenities.
