Nubians accuse govt of marginalisation

The Nubian community in Bombo, Luweero District has accused the government of marginalising them.
Citing the freezing of bank accounts belonging to some of their members by the government after the overthrow of president Idi Amin, the decision not to grant Bombo municipality status and unending land disputes faced by the community, among other issues, the Nubians said the government may be deliberately trying to marginalise them and asked the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to look into the matter.

Efforts to get a comment of the matter from ICT and National Guidance minister Chris Baryomunsi were futile by press time as he did not answer our calls. 

However, the Luweero Resident District Commissioner, Mr Richard Bwabye, said it is not true that the Nubian community is marginalised.
 Speaking at an engagement meeting convened by the EOC in Bombo Town Council on Monday, Mr Musa Mazamil, a resident of Gogonya Cell in Bombo, said the failure by the government to address the different pressing issues affecting the Nubian community amounts to marginalisation since the Constitution states that all citizens have a right to equal treatment.

“For more than 35 years, the Nubians whose accounts were frozen by the government have been engaging authorities to have their money released without any success. Even the status of Bombo Town that was relegated to a town council from a municipality status adds to the many concerns that point to marginalisation,” he said.

Mr Musa Ismail, a resident of Nakatonya Village in Nyimbwa Sub County, Luweero District, said although the government has tried to compensate the different groups and individuals who lost property as a result of several civil wars, the Nubians have allegedly been left out. “The Nubians suffered and lost property in the 1979 and early 1980s wars, but there is no compensation plan for our community,” he said.

The residents said about 75 percent of the Nubians reside in Bombo. They added that many of them rent property and are often caught up in clashes with landlords who don’t respect the land transaction laws.
However, in an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday, Mr Bwabye said while several of the issues raised by the Nubian Community are serious and need to be addressed, the concerns do not amount to marginalisation as perceived by a section of the Nubians.

“The Nubian community in Luweero is very active in all government programmes and is well represented through the different set structures like any other groups in Luweero District. I will try to consult on some of the issues raised so that we get the right response,” he said. 

During the meeting on Monday, Ms Safia Juuko Nalule, the EOC chairperson, said: “Some of the issues mentioned are not new but you also need to put pressure on the leaders to always forward to the relevant offices the different challenges.”

Mr Savio Kakooza Ntensibe, the head of legal and investigations at EOC, said the commission will follow up on the issues raised by the Nubian community.
 “The EOC wrote to the government on the issue about the frozen Nubian accounts, inquiring about the status of the claim. All persons that have documents regarding compensation will be assisted with a covering letter from EOC to the relevant offices,” he said.

On the issue of Bombo missing out on municipality status, Local Government minister Raphael Magyezi, in an interview with the Daily Monitor early this year, said the government had halted the creation of more local government units including the municipalities due to lack of funds. He, however, said the files for Luweero and Bombo were submitted after the district councils’ approval.

Frozen  accounts
When president Idi Amin was overthrown in 1979, the new government, under a Legal Notice, between 1979 and 1984 instructed all commercial banks to freeze accounts of an estimated 1,400 Nubians including the business accounts attached to the Nubian officials.
While steps to have the accounts unfrozen and the money released to the surviving individuals by Bank of Uganda have been taken after the claimants met President Museveni, the Nubians are yet to get their money.