By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
The descendants of His Highness, Sir. Daudi Chwa II, the 34th Kabaka of Buganda Kingdom have made an urgent appeal to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa to intervene in a long-running Kaazi land dispute.
In a statement which Parrots Media seen, the family claim that they have been denied their constitutional and legal rights to their ancestral land for decades, demanding for justice and government accountability regarding the matter.
“We have exhausted every legal and administrative process. It is now time for the President to personally step in and ensure justice is not delayed any further,” Prince Nakibinge David Luswata said.
According to the family, audience with the president would allow them present their grievances and request executive support.
The family also expressed frustration over what they termed as “continued obstruction of justice,” urging the immediate implementation of ministerial directives issued by the government of Uganda on March 10, 2025, regarding the estate of the late monarch.
It should be recalled that in March, a technical committee led by the minister of state for lands, Dr. Sam Mayanja, ordered for the restoration of the monarch’s vast estate which included the restoration of Plot 5 Block 273 at Kaazi (120 acres), title processing for 196 square miles, and the survey of an additional 18 square miles. However, the family claims that this has since fallen into deaf ears.
They accuse the Buganda Land Board (BLB), Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, and some elements within the Kingdom of using legal tactics to frustrate the government’s directives which they say is a deliberate effort to delay justice.
“Despite these efforts, the Kabaka of Buganda and Buganda Land Board have filed for judicial review, obtaining a temporary injunction to halt implementation of the directives,” family’s statement read in parts.
“This legal maneuver, in our view, is a deliberate effort to delay justice, backed by technicalities rather than merit.”
Additionally, the family claim that the late monarchy was allocated 350 square miles in his personal capacity as Kabaka under the 1900 Buganda Agreement, and later received 100 more square miles as part of his private estate. Over 60 square miles were also acquired independently. They further claim that historical documents like Provisional Certificates (PCs), Final Certificates (FCs) and survey maps held by the ministry of lands clearly identify Chwa as the origional and rightful owner of the lands under the mailo tenure systems.
The Chwa II family further accuse the Kingdom of unlawful registration of estate land in the name of BLB, fraudulent leasing and sale of private land, conflation of private mailo with official mailo to justify occupation, and exclusion from 1993 restitution process, which returned land to the kingdom instead of the rightful heirs, among other allegations. According to them, these injustices have irreparable harm likely to deny generations their inheritance rights and eroding public trust in land administration systems in Buganda.
In a family meeting held on July 19, the family made several demand namely; establishment of a joint committee involving government, kingdom, family representatives and independent surveyors to reverify the disputed land. They are also calling for a moratorium on land transactions on the disputed estate, compensation where recovery is impossible, and full access to historical records.
President Museveni has occasionally disapproved the mailo land tenure system, attributing persistent land conflicts, particularly in Buganda to this system. At a recent meeting with journalists from Kampala at State House Lodge Nakaseero, the president called for phased abolition of mailo tenure system one way of addressing land disputes in the country.
“The issue of mailo land was a historical mistake by the colonialists. We should phase it out, but in a win-win way so that tenants (Bibanja holders) have their rights and the landlords are not affected,” President Museveni told journalists. The president was responding to growing concerns over evictions of several Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries by their landlords. He said the mailo land is outdated and denies tenants their rights to land ownership.
By press time, both the government and Buganda Kingdom were yet to issue a formal response regarding the family’s appeal.
