Kayunga leaders on edge as Mengo pushes to cancel title

Kayunga District leaders are in panic after Buganda Kingdom’s minister for local government, Mr Joseph Kawuki, ordered the cancellation of the title deed for the land on which the district headquarters sits.

Mr Kawuki asserted that the freehold title, acquired by Kayunga District Local Government for the four-acre plot where the Shs2 billion office block now stands, was fraudulently obtained.

“You cannot have a scenario where a freehold title is sitting on mailo land,” he said on Wednesday last week.

He further explained that the district should have secured a leasehold from the Buganda Land Board instead of obtaining a freehold title.

“The freehold title should be cancelled so the district can regularise its tenancy on Kabaka’s land,” Mr Kawuki said.

The district headquarters building, recently completed, was partly funded by President Museveni, who contributed Shs800 million to the project.

The minister’s order has caused significant concern among district leaders, some of whom are considering taking the matter to President Museveni.

Mr Andrew Muwonge, the district chairperson, expressed the district’s legal dilemma, saying: “The freehold title was acquired when the government had not yet returned Buganda properties to Mengo. This matter is beyond our control, and we plan to seek advice from the Attorney General.”

Mr Muwonge also mentioned that he had met with Mr Kawuki to discuss the issue. Additionally, he highlighted that local leaders had sold some of Kabaka’s land at Ntenjeru County headquarters.

Mr Darius Kaggwa, the secretary of the Kayunga District Land Board, declined to comment on the matter.

Addressing the public, Mr Kawuki dismissed claims by the Banyala that all properties in Kayunga District belonging to Buganda Kingdom had been transferred to them in a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Mengo and the central government.

“Some selfish people are not telling the truth about what is in the MoU. All Buganda Kingdom properties in Kayunga belong to the Kabaka,” he said.

The Banyala have repeatedly claimed ownership of Buganda Kingdom properties in Kayunga District, even initiating the construction of their office headquarters at Bbaale Sub-county headquarters, a move strongly opposed by Mengo.

In 2013, the government and the Buganda Kingdom signed an MoU agreeing to return all kingdom property.

However, in 2014, when handing over some title deeds to Buganda Kingdom officials, President Museveni cautioned the kingdom against evicting tenants who had occupied its land and buildings over the years.

That same year, Buganda Kingdom Premier Charles Peter Mayiga announced that the Buganda Land Board (BLB), the kingdom’s business arm, had assumed full authority as of August 1, 2013, to manage all properties confiscated by the central government in 1966.

He advised individuals holding titles on such land to work with BLB officials to regularise their titles.

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