After months of on-and-off clashes over a disputed 12-acre piece of land in Namataba, Wakiso district, police have constructed a post on the private property in a bid to stem any further clashes.
The disputed land is claimed by Jack Wycliffe Kururagyire, the acting human resource commissioner at Uganda Prisons, who had planted eucalyptus trees on it.
However, area residents argue that Kururagyire had only secured a temporary lease on the land from the National Forestry Authority (NFA), which expired in April. The residents claim that President Museveni compensated them with the land following their eviction from different parts of Kampala to pave way for the city’s expansion.
According to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Emilian Kayima, the heavy clashes between Kururagyire’s employees and local residents left police with no option but to come out in full force.
“The structure under construction is for the officers who will be protecting that place,” he said. “In that area, it is known for land grabbers to occupy land in the name of whoever they say has given them the authority to use the land.”
CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS
The decision to construct the police post was prompted by the most recent clash, which took place on October 25. On that day, residents forcefully took control of the land and cut down Kururagyire’s trees. Kururagyire estimated that the trees cut down are worth about Shs 300 million.
According to one of the residents, Jonathan Lwanga, they were angered by Kururagyire’s attempts to construct a shelter on the land yet his lease had expired.
However, Kururagyire told The Observer that the structure he was constructing was meant for his workers to rest when they are deployed on the land. Kururagyire also maintained that his lease runs until 2017.
Later, through one of his aides, Kururagyire provided The Observer with documents showing that the National Forestry Authority had granted him a fresh licence to establish and develop a commercial tree plantation on an area of 5.0 hectares in Namanve central forest reserve up to 2033.
“The license is valid for a period of 17 years from 04-May-[20]16 to 04 May-2033 subject to the satisfactory complication of an initial two-year probationary period,” says the tree farming licence, signed by NFA executive director, Michael Mugisa and the director, Natural Forests, Levi Etwodu.
According to the licence, Kururagyire will pay an annual licence fee of Shs 30,000 to the forestry body for each hectare of the land he secured for purposes of growing trees for timber, poles and fuelwood.
Efforts to contact senior NFA officials for the past two weeks have been futile. Kururagyire explained to The Observer how he acquired the land the first time round some 23 years ago. He said the entire process was legal.
“Back in 1993, the forestry department called for farmers who wished to grow some trees to provide firewood and timber for the urban dwellers. I applied and, on paying the [licence] fee, the forestry department gave me a wood permit, along with many other farmers,” he said.
According to Kururagyire, in 2010, he got information that the government wanted to construct an inland port in Namanve so he re-applied for a licence to secure his trees.
But Edirisa Mukasa, the leader of the group with whom Kururagyire is fighting for the land, says they too have a legal claim over the property.
“We were given this land after Kampala developed its expansion and we got affected. All the affected people were moved to this land. We applied for this land through the ministry of lands and President Museveni granted us the land,” he said.
COUNTER ACCUSATIONS
Mukasa believes that top government officials that include Kururagyire, Wakiso RDC Ian Kyeyune and senior police officers want to claim the land so that they can receive compensation when construction of the standard gauge railway starts.
“RDC Kyeyune came to me – he was driving a double-cabin pickup [truck] – and asked me to keep quiet about the land. He said they will give me something but I told him this land is for the people. I am just their leader. What will I tell them afterwards?” he explained.
On October 24, RDC Kyeyune met some of the residents and ordered them not to use the land. Kira division district police commander, Steven Asiimwe, also met the locals, who maintained that the land belongs to them. Asiimwe advised them not to use violence.
However, those meetings seem to have fuelled the already-tense situation, leading to the violence of October 24 and 27 that resulted in the trees being cut down.
Mukasa says that police has arrested and detained 27 people since the matter started, while his young brother was shot and hospitalised. Of the 27 arrested, according to Mukasa, 20 were taken to Luzira without recording statements.
Kururagyire, however, says he only sought the involvement of political and security chiefs because the situation had got out of the hand.
“I went to Kampala metropolitan police to discuss those developments and told them that a mob of people came and cut all my trees in broad daylight,” he said.
With the residents refusing to back down even after the intervention of Wakiso’s security and political heavyweights, Kururagyire police, where they are constructing a post.
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