Africa-Press – Uganda. Government has halted the planned eviction of more than 10,000 residents on a contested piece of land in three villages in Kibanda Sub-county, Rakai District.
The affected villages are Kyakago, Kaseese, and Kyambogo in Kakinga Parish.
Mr Charles Mubiru, the Rakai Resident District Commissioner, said they decided to halt the eviction exercise after receiving information that there were misunderstandings between the landlords and sitting tenants.
“I cannot allow any further surveying of the land because we can end up losing lives. The exercise is halted until further notice,” Mr Mubiru said in an interview on Tuesday.
The land, which measures 171.12 hectares, is said to be owned by Mr Emmanuel Gakwandi, Mr Erias Ndawula, and Mr Fred Kazungu.It is also alleged that the three are backed by a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier, who uses the police to drive the residents off their land.
“There is a UPDF Captain behind all this saga. He deployed more than 30 policemen on Sunday and when we tried to follow them inquiring what they were doing, they fired bullets and teargas which injured some of the residents,” Mr Abdul Katongole, a resident of Kyakago Village, said.
Mr Katongole said the injured were admitted to Kakuuto Health Centre IV in the neighbouring Kyotera District for treatment.According to Mr Twaha Sseruyima, the chairperson of Kyakago Village, many residents are worried that once they are ordered to vacate the land they will lose their property.
“People constructed permanent houses, grew banana plantations and other types of crops which they want to first harvest,” he said.Surveyors tried to open boundaries on the disputed land on Sunday but the angry residents frustrated the exercise, prompting police to use teargas to disperse them.
Mr Edward Kamya, the secretary of the Rakai District land board, said their counterparts at Masaka Lands Zonal office informed them that some landlords wanted to open boundaries on the disputed land and they gave them a go ahead.“Surveyors led by Mr Sadiq Kigongo from MK Survey Consult were the ones responsible for carrying out the exercise and I am yet to find out what challenges they faced,” he said
