Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has halted boundary opening and stopped all activities on disputed land in Makulubita sub county, Luweero District.
The minister issued the directive on August 30 during a meeting with residents from more than five villages of Mulira, Kasizi, Namayamba, Mawu, Wesune among others held at Namayamba Primary School.
Nabakooba cautioned Mr Bwabye Ntulume, the RDC against accepting any kind of survey conducted on the land before resolving the issues.
“I have halted all activities in terms of boundary opening exercise on this block until we have handled the matter conclusively because people were living in fear of being evicted. Let us first investigate the matter and conclude it,” she directed.
She asked local council chairpersons to write all their residents and file their Bibanja size and where they are located.
Nabakooba also tasked the District land Commission to sit and find out the titles issued out in error and cancel them out.
“We expect the District Land Board to sit and recall the minutes that offered land to landlords who were not staying in the area. If they do so, then they will write to the commissioner Land Registration, requesting him to cancel those respective titles.”
The contested land which sits on Kalasa Block 207 and 208, plots 35, 61, 190, 191, 218, 57, 68, 27, and 207 measures more than 13 square miles.
She revealed her ministry has been investigating the matter for the past two years and reports indicate that this was an official Mailo which was vested into the hands of Uganda Land Commission after the abolition of Mailo land in 1975.
The minister further explained that it was not until the “Ebyaffe” was introduced in Buganda and some of the properties were returned to the Kingdom.
“Several titles have been created by different entities, the District Land Board, Uganda Land Commission, and Buganda Land Board. We therefore need to sit and analyse properly all these titles, to find out how do they come into existence and under what circumstances were they created,” she explained.
The added: “Those which will be found to have been created in error must be cancelled by the concerned authorities. Those that are legally known, we shall make sure that Buganda Land Board gets in touch with those who are having legal titles so as they can find a way forward.”
Nabakooba said that all land titles that were formed by the District Land Commission after the land returned to Buganda Kingdom are illegal.
She encouraged locals to protect the environment and ordered them to stop encroaching on Nsanvu wetland.
President Museveni gave an executive directive to all the RDCs ordering them not to allow evictions of rightful Bibanja holders from land.
He directed them that before making any decision, they have to sit with the District security committee and it is only when they fail to make a decision that they can go ahead and get some guidance from the Minister of Lands on what happens next.
David Kisinde, Mawu village chairperson told journalists that they were being threatened by Ronnie Ssendawula, who was allegedly granted a special certificate of title by the District Land Board on Kalasa Block 207, Plot 61 on land measuring 265 hectares and wanted to evict them.
“We are happy that the minister has intervened in these issues, we have now got some relief as we wait for the whole issue to be resolved,” he said.
Mr Ntulume, Luweero RDC said that unlike before, for the person to be allowed to survey their land, there are certain procedures followed to ensure that no cases of grabbing people’s land are registered.
“You present the letter from the District Staff Surveyor, which you bring to my office and I write for you another letter that you take to the village chairperson indication the Block and plot number and the instructions of surveying the land,” he said.