In 2020, more than 3,500 families in Buliisa were displaced after floods submerged their homes and destroyed property worth millions of shillings at various landing sites.
At least 700 residents in Mpigi district have petitioned Parliament claiming UNRA has not adequately compensated them for the 60km Kampala - Mityana road constructed between 2008 and 2012.
Ruth Nankabirwa, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Development warned that government has no other option but to forcefully take over the land should the PAPs reject the compensation money.
The 397.85 kilometers of road starts from Gulu City at Holy Rosary Catholic Church via Omoro to Pader crossing Agago before joining up Abim District and stretching North East to Kotido and Moroto.
The 160 traders led by Rashid Manafa, under their umbrella body, Joint Action for the Redemption of Ugandan Traders in South Susan, lost their produce and now want Parliament’s Committee on Trade, Tourism, and Industries to intervene on the matter.
Mayor Fort Portal Asaba Ruyonga explains that the decision by the affected property owners not to cooperate with the municipality is a threat to the multi-billion infrastructural development,
Judith Nabakooba, the Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, says that following a fact-finding mission on the land by the government, the president has accepted to buy off the land in favor of the residents to allow them to settle peacefully. She says that the government will process land titles for all Bibanja holders on the contested land and also compensate them for the destruction caused to their properties.
On Tuesday, three witnesses including Peter Amara, Namuli's son-in-law, Kyle Lubega, and Richard Bizibira from Lubega & Buzibira Company Advocates, the city law firm that acted on behalf of the claimant gave parallel testimonies while appearing jointly before the MPs.
While appearing before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authority, and State Enterprises – COSASE on Thursday last week, Kyle Lubega, a co-owner of the law firm first told the lawmakers that in 2020, Namuli walked to their chambers to seek legal aid after the Government dragged on with her reparation.
It is said that about 532 million tonnes of rare earth elements have been identified in an area stretching a distance of 40-kilometres from the Igombe and Makuutu in Bugweri, Nakigo and Bulamagi in Iganga district and Imanyiro and Buwaaya sub-counties in Mayuge district. This area has almost 5000 households.
Johnbosco Habumugisha, the deputy managing director of EACOP told Uganda Radio Network that there are delays in the compensation processes due to lack of National Identification Cards by some of the poject affected persons yet the ID is a pre-requisite for the PAPs to be compensated.
Speaking to URN on Monday, the residents, said that following the increased water levels in both River Nile and Lake Victoria, the authorities at the dam resolved to release excess water to protect their equipment from damage. Residents claim that the excessive water washed away their homes, gardens and other projects.
The 3.6 acre-land that belonged to the Uganda Railways was compensation to Kobusingye from the Uganda Lands Commission for her land in Naguru, which was taken over by the government.
Since 2018, the government has not compensated the project-affected persons yet they stopped using their land. The Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) had also promised to start compensation in December 2020 or early January 2021.
Residents are bitter that the stone quarrying activities have caused huge damage to their houses, animals and plants, leaving them in poverty. The most affected areas include Lule, Kanyogogga, Nsaka, Ssebagala and Lugono villages in Semuto town council.
The Kiryandongo Resident District Commissioner Paul Peter Debele who chaired the meeting asked the occupants to vacate the area by 12th July 2021, this Monday.
The Adhoc committee on land compensation led by Veronica Eragu Bichetero has been investigating the compensation of property owners by the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development in Bunyoro and Buganda regions.
“Persons found to have fraudulently reclaimed properties for which they had already been compensated should not only lose the property but also be prosecuted for misrepresentation, obtain property by false pretence and fraudulent acquisition of property,” the report reads.
