By Jimmy Mhumuza
Parliament
Residents from four sub-counties in Kyegegwa District have petitioned the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, questioning the process through which their land was allocated to refugees.
More than 5,000 people are victims of what they called illegal and improper possession of our land by the refugees.”
Led by their chairman, Daniel Nimpamya, the residents of Mpara, Kazinga, Rwentuha, and Mugamba sub-counties presented their petition to the leader of the opposition, Matthias Mpuuga, seeking an inquiry by Parliament into the involvement of officials from the Office of the Prime Minister in what they described as improper and unlawful possession of their land. Nimpamya said that they lawfully acquired their portions of land in accordance with the law, and their occupation was uncontested for many years until June 2016, when they were informed that they were living in a refugee settlement camp.
He reported that many of them who tried to resist were badly beaten and tortured, and others were relegated to a financial crisis because they were using land as a means of production. In their petition, the complainants say that during the resettlement process, the new entrants were not given title deeds or any document to work as proof that they are the owners of the land, and this has caused several conflicts between returnees (Ugandan refugees) and the original owners of the land, putting the security of the area in jeopardy.
The petitioners asked that Parliament help them regain their land or compel the government to compensate them. They also seek Parliament’s help in investigating the matter through its committees so that culprits are brought to book.
Mpuuga noted that the petition speaks to a very big matter in the country regarding land and land politics. He expressed a need to leave a trace of the people who have been rendered homeless through land grabbing.
The LOP assured the petitioners that their matter would be processed and that he was to relay it before the Shadow Cabinet and assign the Shadow Minister for Lands to take it to the Floor of Parliament.
