A long standing unresolved land conflict located in Kagarama village in the current Nyamirama Sub-county formerly Kambuga in Kanungu District has been forwarded to the Solicitor Heneral for further guidance.
The land in question measuring about 150 acres, is claimed by the family of the late Cornelius Kanyamukwara residents of Kitorero Cell in Eastern Ward of Kambuga Town Council in Kanungu district.
According to availabile document, the late Cornelius Kanyamukwara bought the land from Abudu Kanyamihigo in 1973 who was a bonafide owner and in 1981 secured a lease offer for 49 years.
However, shortly after securing the lease, the late Kanyamukwara was ordered out of the land where a school was built and Coffee Huller was constructed while the rest of the land became part of ‘Government Land’ and has been used by the residents for agriculture remitting money to the Sub-county authorities recently to Nyamirama Town Council after its creation.
Whereas the late Kanyamukwara had a residential house, 6 acres of bananas, coffee trees and cows shed, all these were destroyed when the then Parish Chief of Kigarama ordered the family out of the land.
In 1993, before Kanyamukwara died, he petitioned the Chairman, Uganda Land Commission, raising the issue of land grabbing, however the complaint was not attended to by the authorities.
He even went on to petition several authorities including courts of law, but his case was never listened to until his death in 2013 and it was 5 years later that the widow came up with fresh petitions which need to be addressed.
It of recent that the widow Mrs Divina Kobusingye Kanyamukwara also raised the matter that the office of the Resident District Commissioner Kanungu arranged for a meeting between the Town Council, the family of Kanyamukwara and local residents (bataka) to find the truth about the matter.
During the dialogue that took place at Kigarama Primary School that was chaired by Kanungu Assistant Resident District Commissioner Zepher Mugisha, the family of Kanyamukwara led by the elderly widow Divina Kobusingye presented all the documents pertaining the purchase of the land in question, however Nyamirama Town Council Leaders led by the Town Clerk and LC 3 chairman Bahiirwa Kahororo did not provide any documents to ascertain claim over the same land.
The Town Council Leaders however kept telling the meeting that the ownership of land dates back to 1975 when the then government of Idi Amin Dada made a decree proclaiming that all land belonged to the government.
The meeting did not resolve anything over the matter and Emmanuel Eloku who represented the Kanungu Chief Administrative Officer promised to write a report that will be taken to the Solicitor General to advise them in the shortest time on how to proceed with the matter.
This was after several Elders insisted that they had all along, they knew that the land belonged to the government and locals were using it for agriculture and livestock grazing and that’s why a Primary school and a Coffee Factory were constructed there.
Assistant RDC Zepher Mugisha however directed that those using the land will continue to do so until the government pronounces itself over the matter and urged the people to remain calm and peaceful waiting for the amicable solution.
Mugisha however hinted that in case the Solicitor General makes a decision in favor of the Town Council, it shall not stop the family members of the late Kanyamukwara from going ahead to seek redress from the courts of law.
