Mukono, Uganda.
A dark period has turned for Mukono District Chief Administrative Officer, Elizabeth Namanda over failure to interdict Robert Mbaziira, the Senior Land Management Officer.
In October last year, Mbaziira was arrested on the orders of the state minister for Lands- Sam Mayanja who had visited the district to settle the escalating land disputes.
According to Mayanja, Mbaziira is embroiled in numerous land disputes, particularly those involving double titling emanating from the land management system.
Mayanja instructed the CAO to embark on the interdicting process and cancel his working contract immediately to pave the way for investigations against Mbaziira but the CAO declined to implement the orders.
On his recent visit in the district at Salama, Mayanja wondered why the CAO up to now is still failing to implement his orders despite Mbaziira making a confession of masterminding land anomalies within the district.
“Mbaziira came to my office and I took him to General Henry Isoke, the head of the Anti-corruption unit, and recorded confession, but the CAO is still coming up with claims of failure to have enough evidence,” Mayanja revealed.
Mayanja added that Mbaziira pleaded for forgiveness since he still has children to take care of but again the government process of punishing wrongdoers should take shape.
Mbaziira is accused of allegedly issuing double land titles, a practice that has led to constant disputes and uncertainty within the district.
According to Mayanja, the consequences of these discrepancies were dire, leading to physical altercations, injuries, and even loss of life among the aggrieved land claimants.
“I was told, he is very rich and untouchable. My informants were very right since he managed to secure a police bond, still in office and living freely. But this impunity is going to stop.” Mayanja noted.
Our efforts to speak to the CAO and Mbaziira are still fruitless.
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The troubles related to land management in this particular district have been lingering for an extended period.
In August of last year, Minister Maynja temporarily shut down the Mukono Zonal offices, citing their failure to uphold transparency and trust in their operations.
This move was sparked by allegations of deceit and malpractice that were causing suffering among the people.
Doreen Tumushabe, the principal assistant secretary, was temporarily asked to step aside until the investigations were concluded.
Tumushabe eventually returned to her position, after it became evident that many of the anomalies were orchestrated by Mbaziira before several functions at the district land office were transferred to the ministerial zonal office (MZO).
The minister firmly believes that the district land officer not only failed to ensure compliance with national policies, strategies, programs, and guidelines on land, housing, and urban development within the district but also worked in favour of the wealthy, often at the expense of the impoverished members of the community.
Mukono residents strongly believe that a significant step toward resolving the ongoing land disputes lies in the commitment of compliance officers in various offices to refrain from engaging in corrupt practices.
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