Security operatives in Mukono have turned on a deaf ear as notorious land grabbers in the Nakisunga sub-county stir up for unlawful ways.
The group led by the defense secretary of Kakuba-Kiyanja, Richard Tabule has been mobilizing people from five villages for a meeting aimed at settling them on contested plots of land.
The defense secretary embarked on the campaign on Tuesday calling upon people to gather at St Thomas Church of Uganda-Kakuba in a meeting on Wednesday where the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development accompanied by the RDC would declare repossession of their plots of land.
He used several mechanisms including posting placards and mobile outdoor community radios.
However, this website has reliably confirmed that neither the cabinet minister nor the state minister programmed to attend the said meeting.
In a surprise twist on Wednesday, the same defense secretary called off the meeting claiming that the minister had postponed it to a later date.
The under contention belongs to the family of the late Musa Mwanje located at Kiyanja, Nakisunga sub-county, Mukono District.
The family regained its possession after the death of Paddy Sserunjogi, alias Sobi who had illegally seized it on orders of Fulgencio Ssembajjwe, the administrator of the late John Lule Ssebakijja’s estate.
Ssembajjwe claimed that his father purchased 20 acres from Mwanje, albeit the process was incomplete due to his death.
Sobi, who used to present himself as a Special Forces Command operative, wielded the forged court order from 2015 and asserted the full backing of the district security committee to evict Mwanje’s family.
The tussle continued to happen despite Mwanje’s family obtained a court order on December 5, 2023, issued by Justice Faridah Shamilah Bukirwa Ntambi declaring its rights on the estate.
Mwanje’s family contested that the initial eviction order was illegally obtained and sought justice through legal channels. In simpler terms, Mwanje’s family presented evidence to challenge the legitimacy of the eviction order presented by Sobi.
Mwanje’s son, Dirisa Ssebufu, explained in a sworn statement that the order claimed by the other party originated from an appeal related to a case Mwanje had won years ago at the Chief Magistrates Court in Mukono.
Despite filing the appeal in 1999, it was never officially communicated to the other party, and there is no proof of it being served. Additionally, there are no recorded proceedings or judgments from the appeal.
Justice Ntambi, in her ruling, highlighted the absence of proper documentation, stating that it was a significant error, as it deprived Mwanje of his right to be heard.
She concluded that, without clear records, the legitimacy of the order was doubtful and subsequently set it aside. This ruling came a year after Mwanje’s passing.
Thankfully, the leader of the group causing trouble in the area, who was involved in a separate land-grabbing scandal, was also killed. This turn of events allowed Mwanje’s family to reclaim their land.
However, since then, the defense secretary, Richard Tabule, remembered for his enormous support to Sobi’s gang, is still focused on their agenda regardless of the court order.
According to Ssebufu, at the time their estate was seized, Ssembajjwe and Sobi allegedly demarcated plots on the entire 100-acre estate, promising portions of land to cooperating authorities.
In a disturbing twist, there were plans to exhume and erase evidence of Mwanje’s ancestors’ burial grounds to distort ownership records.
Ssebufu reveals that intruders took advantage of the eviction to destroy valuable properties, including banana plantations, trees worth Shillings 700 million, over ten cows, and excavated thousands of trips of sand in the area.
The daughters of Mwanje, namely Hajarah Nalugingi, Hamidah Nakyejjwe, and Aisha Nabifu, have recently returned home after months of fearing for their lives.
According to Nakyejjwe, the gangs that forcefully took over their residence used it as a base to vandalise their properties, looting items such as beds, sofa sets, and utensils worth millions.
These perpetrators remain untraceable. Juma Majwala, a loyal resident and tenant of Mwanje, found himself homeless after they demolished his house, valued at about Shillings 100 million, for refusing allegiance to them.
Despite reporting the matter to the police and providing names of the gang members, they remain free and have not been summoned to record statements.
Another house, reportedly constructed by the UPDF engineering brigade as a gift from President Museveni to his former bodyguard, was also vandalised, with all properties stolen.
On many occasions, the Resident District Commissioner was accused of siding with the criminals who promised a huge share of the ‘looted’ land.
However, the Saturday Vision dated February 10, 2024, reported the RDC Hajjat Ndisaba denying the allegations made by Mwanje’s family, stating that their involvement aimed at ensuring the smooth implementation of court orders.
Ndisaba mentioned that she could not delve into the details due to the subjudice rule. While acknowledging that some mistreatment of Mwanje’s family may be occurring, Ndisaba did not label the family as entirely innocent.
Earlier Attempts for the Minister to Visit Contested Land
The defense secretary together with Ssembajjwe made earlier attempts to have Judith Nabakooba visit the contested land and also make a ministerial order resettling them.
However, following the complexity of the matter, the minister was forced to throw it to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit for a fresh, thorough, and impartial investigation.
Nabakooba, who met concerned parties at the district administration boardroom on February 14, 2024, found out that the report submitted by the RDC on the matter had wrong intentions due to uncoordinated facts.
It contradicted the two reports filed by the Mukono Division Police Commander Edirisa Kyeyune and that of Brig. Moses Lukyamuzi, the head of the Presidential Task Force on Land Matters and Environment.
The RDC’s report indicated that Mwanje’s family had destroyed tenant’s houses on top of evicting them from the land as well as injuring many in the process of eviction.
But in the reports of the DPC and Brig. Lukyamuzi, it is indicated that the group led by then Sobi had committed the crimes cited in the RDCs report.
Nabakooba suggested visiting the site for each affected resident to stand at his destroyed house but the RDC Ndisaba claimed it was not necessary arguing that the media was interested in the matter and would use their pictures on the ground for bad intentions.
As Mukono residents and all stakeholders are still in suspense waiting for the outcome of the finding by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the defense secretary is busy inciting violence.
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