RCC halts land eviction on New Year
Patrick Wanzala, the proprietor of Prime Care Nursery and Primary School in Naguru, Kampala on January 9, 2022. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Mr Kamugisha said the police officers, who attempted to carry out an eviction, were doing it illegally since they were not bailiffs and the case on the ownership of the house was still before court.
A family, whose house was partially demolished in an eviction on Christmas Day in 2022 before the suspects fled, was again raided for eviction by police officers on January 1.
However, it was saved before the demolition could take place. This was after the Resident City Commissioner for Nakawa Division, Sheikh Kassim Kamugisha, intervened and halted the eviction on a public holiday.
Mr Kamugisha said the police officers, who attempted to carry out an eviction, were doing it illegally since they were not bailiffs and the case on the ownership of the house was still before court.
“This matter is still in court. Police is carrying out the eviction and yet they should be witnesses. It is bailiffs who evict with a court order. This is irregular. How do you do it on a public holiday? How do you bypass the District Security Committee? It is high time police investigates their own. If this continues, Ugandans will soon lose confidence in the police and they may start stoning them while on duty,” Mr Kamugisha said.
On December 22, last year, Ms Judith Nabakooba, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, ordered that no eviction orders or executions should be carried out during the festive season. Courts had earlier issued the same directives.
The house at Kigoowa, Nakawa Division in Kampala City, was part of the estate of the late Johnson Orech.
The ownership wrangles started after Orech died in 1995. It is alleged the late Orech willed the property to be under the administration of the widow, Lucy Mary Orech.
The widow didn’t transfer the property in her name but it was left in the management of her sister, who is alleged to have later sold it. The children of the deceased petitioned High Court but lost. However, they went to Court of Appeal, which is yet to make a decision.
On Monday, at the late Orech’s estate, police allegedly went with private security guards to enforce an eviction.
Mr Kamugisha said the police leadership should investigate its officers, who participated in the activity.
Response
The police spokesman, Mr Fred Enanga, said their actions are guided by court orders and court Judgements. He added that he needed to consult with the police’s legal affairs team on the way forward.
