Reverend Canon Moses Kayimba, the Diocesan Secretary, in his report to the Diocesan Council, has revealed that they are struggling to secure a number of churches that have fallen prey to unscrupulous individuals who have grabbed large portions of land from them.
The Church of Uganda in West Buganda Diocese is decrying the widespread land encroachments that are threatening the future existence of several of its parishes.
Reverend Canon Moses Kayimba, the Diocesan Secretary, in his report to the Diocesan Council, has revealed that they are struggling to secure a number of churches that have fallen prey to unscrupulous individuals who have grabbed large portions of land from them.
He says that many parishes lack certificates of registration to prove ownership of the land they are occupying, including spaces where the churches were constructed.
To their disappointment, he observes that some predecessor families of persons who offered land to the faith are now conspiring against the Church to reclaim the properties, and in some of the worst scenarios, some have even sold off the land to private persons.
Reverend Kayimba indicates that the administration is currently faced with an uphill task of tracing and obtaining documents regarding the properties in all the 127 parishes and 13 Archdeaconries that make up the diocese.
(Luganda Audio)
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Meanwhile, Reverend Kayimba indicates that the Diocesan Council, which is the top governing organ of the diocese, has issued instructions to all parish priests and administrators to establish boundaries for the remaining pieces of land in their respective areas and encircle it with permanent marks, as they make arrangements to pursue the encroachers.
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The West Buganda Diocesan Bishop Henry Katumba Tamale, in his address to the Diocesan Council, instructed the laity to support the campaign of setting up development projects at parish levels as one of the ways to secure the land from grabbers.
He expressed concern that the rampant land grabbing is also threatening historical areas that serve great memorial value to the church.
He cited Kajjuna Parish in Buwunga Sub County, Masaka District, which was the initial evangelization base for the white missionaries before they started spreading to different parts of Buganda.
According to him, the Church originally owned 300 acres of land in the area, but lately, a large portion has been encroached on by people, many of whom have even constructed permanent houses.
However, Bulasio Lubega Matovu, a member of the Diocesan Council, partly blames the encroachment on some egocentric priests, whom he accuses of conniving with parish executives to sell parts of the land and sometimes rent it out.
He prefers that the Diocese include proper land management and development as part of the priests’ key performance indicators for their promotion and transfer.
