Battle of Titans as State House Land Office Locks Horns with Lands Minister

A clash of egos and a show of brute may lead a noble cause to fail with all the good intentions going down the drain. This usually happens when there is no consultation to create synergy between two or more parties that might result in outright denigration of either party.

It is wrong for two entities charged with the duty of solving a huge government dilemma to publicly clash and wash their dirty linen for all and sundry to watch the specter unfold in public view. This menace is usually evident when there is a conflict of interest between government officials and political appointees who think to have extraordinary powers from ‘above’. All the problems around land grabbing rotate around impunity and the use of force to solve either a legal issue or a family dispute that could be solved by family members sitting to find an amicable solution without inciting violence.

Several examples can be cited in the realm of land management where those charged to find a solution, end up being part of the problem. Land is an emotive matter, which usually pities the downtrodden, the wretched of the earth, the powerless, and the voiceless against the mighty.

From the start, in any land-grabbing scenario, the weak are at a disadvantage against the powerful, so, it was a prudent idea for the president to set up entities that would work in concert to solve the glaring problem at hand but in most cases, this has not been realized.

A case in point is the recent scenario in Nabbingo where the Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja gave a directive to police to arrest one of the land claimants, Lawrence Kiggundu for allegedly forging land documents of ownership against the claims of other family members. This land with an area of 112 acres is situated at Nabbingo, Bataka village in Kyengera Town Council. The Minister went to the disputed area and held a public gathering involving villagers and the affected family members, he was categorical that after thorough investigations, it was discovered that Lawrence Kiggundu forged ownership papers, therefore, he had no right of claim and should vacate the land.  What is not clear, is whether the investigations were a result of a court process or a political undertaking. At this point, it looked like the matter had been resolved.

However, two days later, the State House land matters office at Mengo under Brig Gen (rtd) Moses Lukyamuzi stormed the area, with armed men in numbers to overturn the directive of the Minister. It was an ugly scene, both politically and administratively. The soldiers went on a rampage chasing away the bonafide family members who had been resettled by the Minister’s directive in the glare of cameras. It was bad. This single act is a microcosm of what happens where there are no cameras. What is even more disturbing is, what is the mandate of the Mengo land office in determining ownership of disputed land, does it have the power to subdivide family land, let alone deciding on the rightful ownership?

The Mengo land office has faced a lot of allegations involving excessive use of force, extortion, and arresting people without court orders. There is an allegation that an elderly man in dispute with family members in Kyanja was purportedly kidnapped to force him to surrender land titles to this office. It took the intervention of higher authorities before he was released. There is another case in Kikaaya where family members are in dispute about sharing rental income from five “mizigo” rental rooms, not land. This office represented by Jamil Sempagala, threatened to arrest some family members after summoning them to Mengo to force them to surrender money accruing from their rightful share of the rentals. It is a show of impunity and wrongful use of the office and men in uniform to settle personal scores.

The question now is, who the public should take seriously if one is faced with a land dispute and needs an administrative solution? I think there is a need for the State House to clearly state the scope of this office and how it relates to other state offices. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose of why it was set up.

What is more condescending is how the Minister will react after he is publicly humiliated by an office that is supposed to be subordinate to his. Is he going to give another contradictory statement after Brig Gen (rtd) Lukyamuzi declares that after a “thorough” investigation, Lawrence Kigundu is the rightful owner of the disputed family land? The government should endeavour not to make land grabbing an institutionalised act through highhanded offices meant to solve the problem.