For more than six decades, locals in the area temporarily patched the bridge with wood logs and pieces of timber to facilitate trucks transporting goods across the two districts.
Nabos Iguru, one of the affected persons told Uganda Radio Network that Kaliisa acquired a title for the land in 2019 without the consent of residents, which he wants to use to evict them. According to Iguru, Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom offered the contested piece of land to residents and wonders how Kaliisa came to acquire the title without their consent or that of the kingdom.
Hakiza says that as they continued digging the shallow well, water emerged from underground. He says the two drowned and could not fight for their dear lives anymore. He explains that residents became suspicious after waiting for the duo to come out of the shallow well in vain. They immediately alerted Hoima police, which rushed to the scene but couldn’t much before the two were already dead.
The contract to construct the 54-kilometre road was awarded to China Railway Number Seven group company limited. However, a row has now emerged between Budongo Sub County and area residents who are both claiming ownership of the same land.
Harriet Businge, the Hoima Woman MP, says that most of the land grabbers are highly connected to the government and have gone ahead to brand genuine land owners in the region as rebels in order to capture the support of security agencies in their evil deeds.
Hoima International Airport will be the second international airport in Uganda after Entebbe upon completion. It is an important infrastructure for the oil sector in Uganda, expected to facilitate the construction of the national oil refinery in Hoima and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) that will connect to Tanga in Tanzania. It sits on six square miles of land.
Fredrick Byenume, the Hoima District Health Inspector, says they realised a huge number of people are infected during a community surveillance exercise they conducted last week.
The entire village of over 3,000 people now fetches water from a pond located five kilometres away, yet it is also shared by wild animals especially baboons and monkeys.
According to research, more and more residents in the sub counties of Buseruka, Kitoba, Kigorobya and Kyabigambire, no longer seek prescription for malaria treatment, pain killers and antibiotics, a trend which endangers lives and is more likely to spur drug resistance.
Zakayo Makuta, the area councilor who doubles as the Sub county deputy LC III chairperson says the locals have been accusing Kikama of plotting the death of his brother in order to take total control of the land.
Julius Hakiza, the Albertine Region Police spokesperson told Uganda Radio Network on Monday that Waiswa was sent on forced leave by the by the Regional Police Commander, Deo Obura over the weekend following numerous complaints from the public about his conduct and mode of operation.
Mutegeki was arrested during a heated village meeting held at Buyanja village on Friday afternoon after residents accused him of conniving with investors to forcibly take their land.
Our reporter visited the area on Tuesday morning found several UPDF soldiers and police officers on the contested piece of land. It is alleged that Uganda Investment Authority-UIA bought the contested land from Bunyoro Grower’s Union in 2005.
The officers were seen this morning recording statements from some of the affected people at Katerega Catholic Church. The affected families were brutally evicted from their homes by bailiffs from Maji Moto Auctioneers and Court Bailiffs in February this year.
The deceased is Judith Katusiime while the injured is 3-year-old Nelson Kabagambe, both children of Judith Kwerema, a resident of Kitoole Village in Buhimba Sub County.
Midesta Mugisa, the Kigorobya Sub County LC 3 Chairperson, says most of the villages in his area lack clean water sources. He says as a sub county, they are incapacitated to establish more water sources.
The arrests come two weeks after the arrest of two prominent businessmen on allegations of conniving with iron bar hit-men to cause havoc in the area. They were accused of buying stolen items like Laptops, Television sets and phones, providing a market for the hitmen and other petty thieves. They have since been locked up at Hoima Central Police Station.
