Evictees speak out on how they acquired land in Lubigi

The evicted residents, some of whom had settled in the area for decades, said the place was encroached upon after the National Resistance Army (NRA) Bush War of 1981-1986 that ushered President Museveni into power.

Residents who lived in the area at the time said the land, originally belonging to Buganda Kingdom, had few occupants who had plots of land (bibanja) stretching from the main road to the wetland.

Ms Teopista Kaweesa, 75, a resident of Nansana West II A, said she settled in the area in the 1960s at the age of 17 and found less than 10 residents.

“It was a wetland full of papyrus stretching from Bwaise, a city suburb, towards Busega,” she told Daily Monitor on Tuesday. She said whoever owned land in Lubigi constructed their houses on the dry land on Hoima Road and used the wetland to grow food.

Ms Kaweesa said at the onset of the NRA war, several people fled the area for safety, but returned after the war.

“The bushy swamp provided a hiding ground during the war,” she recalls.

When the NRA assumed power and sanity was restored, Ms Kaweesa said many old people had died and their children took over before they started selling the land to brokers.

The land brokers reportedly started backfilling the wetland and blocked water channels.

“This was the root cause of floods because the soil blocked the channel and whenever it rained, water destroyed people’s houses,” she explained.

The land was then subdivided into plots for sale.

In the early 1990s, the majority of the occupants started constructing houses on their plots and it is believed that it is these new occupants who invited more people to buy plots in the same area.

By the time government projects like the Northern Bypass started in 2004, Lubigi was already occupied.

Mr Isaac Kanyike Ssagala, 60,a resident of Nansana, who has spent all his time in Lubigi, said the construction of the Northern Bypass too contributed to the flooding in encroached areas.

He said before the construction of the Northern Bypass, accessibility to other parts of the area was a big challenge to the Lubigi dwellers.

“Someone had to walk to Hoima Road if they wanted to go to Kampala, but now this bypass attracted more encroachers,” he added.

Before the construction of a power line that passes through Lubigi, the affected residents were compensated.

However, after some years, they returned and resold their plots of land to new people. This explains why some people had started constructing houses under the utility line.

Ms Zulaikah Kyobijja, a resident of Nansana South II, and a daughter of a 95-year-old Hadijjah Najjemba, currently bed-ridden, said her mother had stayed on the land for more than 70 years.

“We are among the first families to settle in Lubigi,” Ms Kyobijja said.

She wondered why Buganda Land Board was asking for nominal ground rent (busuulu), knowing it is a wetland.

“We have all the receipts to pin Buganda for soliciting money from us yet their land is in a gazetted swamp and we are not allowed to encroach,” she said.

However, Mr Israel Kazibwe Kitooke, the Buganda Kingdom spokesperson, said it is true the land belongs to Buganda Kingdom but under the supervision of the Nema since it is a swamp.

“Nema has the powers over all swamps and other fragile ecosystems in the country,” he said.