How Kalangala leaders failed to detect illegal village for two years

But now, Kachanga’s status is contested by district councillors from Mazinga Sub County, who insist that it is still part of Mawaala Village and “those who call it an independent village are self-seekers.”

The same councilors have also instituted investigations into “how an

illegal village was created in the area.”

Led by Gerald Kalyango, a  councillor representing Mazinga Sub-County in the district, councillors claim they were stunned to learn that Kachanga, located on Funve Island, has an executive committee and an office rubber  stamp.

"When I was still chairperson for Mawaala Village  in 2009, we  selected  five people to help us manage the administrative activities at Kachanga landing site ,but we are surprised  to learn that they are regarding themselves as leaders of  an administrative unit which isn't true, " he said in an interview on Sunday.

The five-member committee, according to Kalyango, was put in place to help residents in negotiating with landlord Godfrey Mbaziira on how to legalize their tenancy.

“This is had nothing to do with creating an independent village called Kachanga,” he said.

The protest by councilors comes after Alex Mpala obtained an office rubber stamp- and started using it   without authorisation from Mawaala LC where they fall .

Mazinga Sub-County vicxe chairperson Dorothy Ziribagwa accused Mpala of having selfish interests.

"We have the mandate to pass a resolution to create a new  administrative unit which we haven't done, but  now we see a village being given a stamp without our knowledge?," she observed as she questioned Mpala’s motive.

Castrol Mugaru , who has lived in Kachanga since 2014, told Monitor that the area has had changes in leadership since 2016.

"…residents in 2018 elected Asuman Sentongo who after failing to stabilize the village was removed and democratically replaced with Alex Mpala who was his vice chairperson in 2021," he said.

"All the previous leaders had a stamp in the names of Mawaala –Kachanga Village, but today we have own stamp,” Mugaru noted.

According to Mpala, Kachanga became an independent village during the  2021 general  elections and received an official stamp from the district headquarters in March 2023.

"Kachanga is a village and that's why we have a polling station in our area, but for the office stamp, it was sent by the   district head leadership," he added. 

Former 2-year head of Kachanga’s sanitation committee Luke Kabanyoka said “they are currently giving out letters of recommendation to residents seeking to get national IDs.”

Meanwhile, Godfrey Mbaziira, who is the landlord for the area housing Kachanga landing site, told this publication that “the idea of creating the village came up after residents complained that they were missing out on many government programmes.”

" The truth is that, we haven't had any village elections conducted by the electoral commission, there is also no single polling station in our   village, and it was my initiative together with Mawaala LC to elect the interim leadership. However, we expect to push it this time as they prepare for the village chairperson elections," he added.

Asked to comment on the matter, Kalangala District chairperson Rajab Semakula emphasized that Kachanga Village is not yet gazetted by the government despite plans to carve it out of Mawaala Village.

“When time comes, I am sure it will become independent," he noted.
Kalangala Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Eva Kwesiga is now warning Mpala against confusing residents of Kachanga landing site by disguising as their leader.

"If they [residents of Kachanga landing site] want to be independent, they should write to the Chief Administration Officer (CAO) to take them through all processes. It is erroneous for Mpala to put his signature on official documents, yet his village isn't recognised by government,” she added.0

Available records show that Kalangala Island has a total of 97 villages spread across 17 parishes and six sub counties.