Africa-Press – Uganda. Members of Parliament (MPs) on the parliamentary Defence and Internal Affairs Committee have advised management of Kabamba Military Academy in Mubende District to devise means of safeguarding the estimated 19 square miles of land belonging to the institution.
While inspecting the academy last Friday, the legislators said a section of the land in Kasambya Sub-county, is not titled, which exposes it to land grabbers.
Mr William Museveni Ndooli, the Buwekula South MP and a member of the committee, said they have learnt that the army management hires out the land for cultivation, without clear strategy and documentation.
“We advise the responsible authorities to swiftly get a title for that vast land, it is not safe in its current status,” he said.
“Recently, an unscrupulous person processed a title of three square miles on land belonging to President Museveni. If such land can be grabbed, then the land belonging to an institution such as the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is not safe,” he said.
Ms Rosemary Nyakikongoro, the committee chairperson and Woman MP of Sheema District, said they receive several complaints that soldiers rent out the land and later harass civilians to vacate the land.
“They force our voters to leave the land before harvesting their crops, this is wrong,” she said during an inspection of projects at the military academy at the weekend.
The academy management was also questioned about the stray bullets and bombs that cause death and injuries to the civilians during military drills.
Ms Nakikongoro said the most affected are residents of Kiwimulo, Kamusongole, Kakikoba,Muzirandulu, Ngalama, and Kabbo villages in Kasambya Sub-county .
In his response, the Commandant of Armoured Warfare Training School, Col Pande Jackson Kajuba, confirmed that some soldiers are renting out government land to civilians .
“Some soldiers are utilising the land on a small scale, but there are those who misbehave and rent out their bibanja to civilians. When our team goes there to evict the civilians, a soldier comes out claiming ownership of the cleared portion and the person found in the garden is simply a manager,” he said.
Asked about the ammunitions, Col Kajuba said Kabamba is a training area and some weapons unfortunately affect their neighbours. He, however, said the victims are usually compensated .
“Sometimes, when we’re trying to shoot, we fail to control the dispersion. Whenever there is any error made, we always reach out to the families of the victims and many have been compensated,” Col Kajuba said.
BARBARA NALWEYISO
Members of Parliament (MPs) on the parliamentary Defence and Internal Affairs Committee have advised management of Kabamba Military Academy in Mubende District to devise means of safeguarding the estimated 19 square miles of land belonging to the institution.
While inspecting the academy last Friday, the legislators said a section of the land in Kasambya Sub-county, is not titled, which exposes it to land grabbers.
Mr William Museveni Ndooli, the Buwekula South MP and a member of the committee, said they have learnt that the army management hires out the land for cultivation, without clear strategy and documentation.
“We advise the responsible authorities to swiftly get a title for that vast land, it is not safe in its current status,” he said.
“Recently, an unscrupulous person processed a title of three square miles on land belonging to President Museveni. If such land can be grabbed, then the land belonging to an institution such as the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is not safe,” he said.
Ms Rosemary Nyakikongoro, the committee chairperson and Woman MP of Sheema District, said they receive several complaints that soldiers rent out the land and later harass civilians to vacate the land.
“They force our voters to leave the land before harvesting their crops, this is wrong,” she said during an inspection of projects at the military academy at the weekend.
The academy management was also questioned about the stray bullets and bombs that cause death and injuries to the civilians during military drills.
Ms Nakikongoro said the most affected are residents of Kiwimulo, Kamusongole, Kakikoba,Muzirandulu, Ngalama, and Kabbo villages in Kasambya Sub-county .
In his response, the Commandant of Armoured Warfare Training School, Col Pande Jackson Kajuba, confirmed that some soldiers are renting out government land to civilians.
“Some soldiers are utilising the land on a small scale, but there are those who misbehave and rent out their bibanja to civilians. When our team goes there to evict the civilians, a soldier comes out claiming ownership of the cleared portion and the person found in the garden is simply a manager,” he said.
Asked about the ammunitions, Col Kajuba said Kabamba is a training area and some weapons unfortunately affect their neighbours. He, however, said the victims are usually compensated.
“Sometimes, when we’re trying to shoot, we fail to control the dispersion. Whenever there is any error made, we always reach out to the families of the victims and many have been compensated,” Col Kajuba said.
Background
Kabamba Military Academy was established in 2007 by merging the Cadet Officer School, which was at Jinja with the Uganda School of Infantry, originally housed at Kabamba.
The institution prepares and qualifies cadets to become combat officers capable of commanding their units.
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