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Former Buganda prime minister named in Mubende land sale
Former Buganda premier, John Baptist Walusimbi. FILE/PHOTO
KAMPALA- Former Buganda prime minister John Baptist Walusimbi has been named in the controversial sale of land in three villages in Mubende District.
It is alleged that Mr Walusimbi in 2012 sold 259 hectares of land at Tonterekera, Kiswera and Myanzi villages in Myanzi Sub-county, Mubende District to a real estate dealer, Emmanuel Lukyamuzi, without giving the tenants first priority as required by the law.
Appearing before the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led commission of inquiry into land matters yesterday, Mr Charles Kavuma, a resident of Tonterekera Village, accused Mr Walusimbi of evicting them.
It is alleged that Mr Walusimbi holds documents of land on block 302, plot 53, located at Kiswera Village but has since used the same to claim land in Tonterekera village.
“When Mr Walusimbi was introduced to us, we got details of the land and we conducted a search which revealed that there is no such detail in Tonterekera,” he said.
The commission heard that the disputed land is Crown land without a land title.
Mr Kavuma told the commission that upon learning that the residents had gone to complain to the land office in Mityana, Mr Walusimbi visited the village and informed residents that the disputed land was under Buganda Kingdom and that his target was the wetland.
“To our surprise, a man called Lukyamuzi (Emmanuel) came with documents addressed to three local council villages written by Mr Walusimbi on June 19, 2012. The letters were introducing Lukyamuzi, the director of Lukyamuzi Investments Limited, as the buyer of 90 acres of land,” said Mr Kavuma narrating that they have since suffered torture, forced eviction and destruction of their property.
Another resident, Ahmed Kalule, 77, said he has since lost cattle, suffered illegal arrests and detention by police over tramped up charges regarding land.
“(Mr) Lukyamuzi brought more than 30 people armed with guns to the village. One day, when my wife had gone to graze cattle in the field, his men shot in the air and went on to claim that they were being attacked by residents with machetes, which attracted criminal charges against me,” said Mr Kalule adding that he was compelled to pay Shs400,000 as fine in court.
The commission also quizzed the chairman of Tonterekera Village, Mr Jackson Jjingo, for allegedly conniving with the real estate dealer to evict and torture residents.
Integrity questioned
In his testimony, Mr Jjingo denied knowledge of any dispute on the said land saying there were normal negotiations. This angered the commission to question his integrity as an area leader.
“Evidence before the commission shows that people in Mubende have lost hope, they have become homeless and the district has the highest rate of homelessness with people, who had 17 acres of land now have zero and I am told they are living in mayor’s gardens,” he said wondering whether justice is being served by the officers by strictly looking at the police files and sanctioning charges in matters that are largely intricacies of land.
Objective
The land Commission is investigating into the law, processes and procedures in land acquisition, land administration, and management in the country.
