Leaders ask Museveni to intervene in Kikuube land row

KIKUUBE– Leaders in Kikuube district have asked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to resettle more than 1,000 people who have since February last year pitched camp at the offices of the Kikuube resident district commissioner, Amlan Tumusiime,  seeking redress after they were allegedly evicted from their ancestral land.

The residents are feuding with the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement over 36 square kilometres of land.  They were evicted from Bukinda A and B, Bukinda 2, Kavule, Bwizibwera A and B, Kyeya A and B, Nyaruhanga, Kabirizi, Nyamigisa A and B, and Katoma villages among others in Kasonga parish, Kyangwali Sub-county.

In September 2013, officials from the Office of the Prime Minister [OPM] backed by the police and army evicted more than 60,000 people from the contested land. The residents were forced to settle in camps in Kyeya village under very poor conditions.

In 2016 and 2018, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ordered the evicted residents to be resettled back on their ancestral land but to date; the directive has never been implemented.

Speaking on Tuesday during the recent commissioning of the first of the oil drilling rigs in Buhuka village Kyangwali Sub-county, the leaders reminded Museveni about the continued suffering of the evictees.

Peter Banura, the Kikuube district LCV Chairperson informed Museveni that all avenues of having the evictees resettled on their land have proved futile.

He told him the evicted people don’t have food, shelter, and medication.

He noted that several young girls have been impregnated in the area while mothers have delivered babies in the area.

Flora Natumanya, the Kikuube Woman Member of Parliament said the evictees especially women and children are sleeping in the cold, calling for immediate intervention by Museveni to have them resettled.

She said the evictees cannot engage in any development since their land was taken away, despite the affected people being supporters of the ruling National Resistance Movement [NRM].

Francis Kazini, the Buhaguzi Member of Parliament, asked the president to punish those who were behind the eviction of the residents. Kazini wondered why the government left the evictees to endure suffering at the expense of refugees.

He said government officials who participated in the eviction are enemies of the government and appealed to Museveni to intervene in the land row.

In response, Museveni directed Kenneth Omona, his principal private secretary to work with district leaders on the matter and then report to his office.

In October 2021, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja halted all activities on the contested land after learning that some officials from the OPM and Kyangwali Refugee Settlement had connived to erect structures for refugees on the contested land and planted crops like beans, maize, cassava, banana, and groundnuts among others.

She ordered the Minister for Disaster Preparedness, the commandant of Kyangwali Refugee Settlement area, and leaders of security agencies to ensure that no more activity takes place on the contested land until investigations into the matter are completed.

https://thecooperator.news/rwot-acana-writes-to-museveni-over-eviction-in-pader-residents/

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country-wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news