Six people have been remanded for criminal trespass and damaging properties belonging to one Musa Mwanje, a resident of Kiyanja in Nakisunga Sub County, Mukono District.
These were arrested while exploring the land in question, days after police blocked access to the same, by a group of 30 people led by Paddy Sserunjogi popularly known as Sobi.
The team raided the land measuring 100 acres on the orders of Fulgencio Ssembajjwe, the administrator of the Estate of the late John Lule Ssebakijja, and started cutting down trees and vandalizing a house belonging to the landlord.
However, they were stopped by a Police team headed by Michael Kato, the Mukono Division Officer in Charge.
Sobi told the police that he was convinced that Ssebakijja had bought 20 acres of land from Mwanje but the transfer process was never completed prior to his death.
He added that the administrator of the estate promised him 10 acres once he clears and fences off the contested land. By the time police intervened, the group had cleared five acres of the land in question.
According to Mwanje, Sobi presented to him a court order issued in 2015 before introducing himself as a Special Forces Command operative hired to clear the contested part of the land. He however says that the entire conversation came off as a joke until Sobi started cutting down trees and clearing his garden.
Police subsequently convened a village meeting where they read out a court injunction prohibiting further development on the land. Our efforts to speak to the administrator of the Estate of the late John Lule Ssebakijja are still futile but Sarah Ssebakijja, a widow of the late attests that her husband died before securing the required proof of ownership. Records show that Mwanje secured the land titles in 1960.
Kiyanja LCI Chairperson Joseph Ssenkungu has called for the intervention of the lands ministry in the matter which he says has sparked insecurities in the village.
Mukono Resident District Commissioner Fatumah Ndisaba advised Ssebakijja’s family to seek redress from the court after they failed to agree with Mwanje instead of causing violence in the community.
She also reveals instructing Mukono Divisional Police Commander Annabella Nyinamahoro to ensure sanity in the village.
Nakisunga Grade I Magistrate, Fiona Nakibuuka however denied their plea for bail on grounds that their appearance before the court has happened in the absence of the State Attorney. She remanded them to Nakisunga Prison until September 14.
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