By Johnson Kanyesige
The State Minister for lands Dr Sam Mayanja has halted all evictions of locals from their ancestral land located in five villages of Kabaale Sub County in Hoima district. The affected villages are Ngemwa, Nyakasinini, Kigaaga B, Nzorobi, and Nkwaki, all located in Nzorobi and Kigaaga Parishes. The land in question, measuring approximately 10 square miles, borders the Bugoma Forest Reserve.
This was during a meeting with leaders and locals held at Nzorobi trading center on Tuesday afternoon.
The Minister’s directive followed concerns raised by local leaders led by the sub county chairperson Hassan Kugonza over a group of individuals from Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom who have threatened to evict them from their ancestral land.
Kugonza told the minister that their fears of eviction began on January 15 when two Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom vehicles were spotted in their area with officials who were said to be surveying their land.
He added that since then they have remained in fear and some of the residents have since sold off their pieces of land and destined to other areas. Kugonza asked the minister to look into giving Hoima district free Land titles.
In response the minister stopped any evictions and told the residents to carry on with their activities.
His directive followed a letter he had received from Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom earlier in the day where the officials denied any plans of evicting locals from their ancestral land.
The Minister also ordered for the arrest of one Twegonze whom the Kingdom accused of doing dubious activities using the name of the kingdom.
The Minister disclosed that President Museveni has extended 10000 land titles to Hoima district as one way of minimizing land conflicts.
