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Nakaseke bush war veterans task lands minister on evictions
State Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja (R) inspects one of the houses demolished in an an attempted eviction on a family in Semuto Town Council, Nakaseke District on Saturday February 26, 2022.PHOTO/DAN WANDERA
A section of the bush war veteran families and victims of land evictions in Nakaseke District have tasked the government to take action against land grabbers, landlords and dealers that are targeting bibanja holders for eviction.
The victims from Semuto Sub County and the Semuto Town Council in Nakaseke District claim that while government has played its part in maintaining security in several parts of the country, the new wave of insecurity ignited by acts of illegal land evictions now target the bibanja holders who are majority of the population in the central district of Nakaseke.
“We fought to have peace in our area but several of the families that joined the bush war to liberate Uganda have had their respective land and property taken away. When my family was attacked by a fellow war veteran claiming land that has been occupied since 1974, I was left helpless after my house got demolished,” Mr Steven Mugambwa, a resident of Kimegere District told the State Minister for Lands, Mr Sam Mayanja who visited the area on Saturday .
Ms Magadalena Nanziri, a 76- year-old woman who recently lost her six-acre piece of land to suspected land grabbers in Semuto Sub County said she had been left landless by a group of people who accused her of trespassing on their land.
“I have occupied the land for more than 40 years after inheriting it from my parents,” she said.
Nakaseke Deputy Resident Commissioner, Mr John Kaddu believes that the land grabbers who claim to be connected to senior government officials are undermining the spirit of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM/NRA) revolution that sought to protect the ordinary people and their property.
“Nakaseke District that bore the brunt of the liberation war in the early 1980s is now overwhelmed by cases of illegal land evictions caused by selfish individuals. Families have been thrown off their ancestral land that they have occupied for years. Many families do not have security over their own land since the land grabbers are very powerful people who use courts of law to grab the land,” he said.
However, Mr Mayanja while inspecting the home of one of the victims of the land evictions at Kimegerede Village in Semuto Town Council halted all pending evictions of bibanja holders country wide.
“The cases involving the land evictions are overwhelming and are now a source of insecurity. The land grabbers are undermining the constitutional guidelines on the right to security of occupancy by the bibanja holders as provided in Section 237 (8) of the 1995 Constitution that guarantees security of occupancy,” he said.
“I have been informed that the man identified as Sula Serunjogi demolished Mugambwa’s house at night. This is trespass and Serunjogi must be arrested to answer for the evil act. He will have to rebuild this house,” the minister said.
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