The mister for internal affairs Rtd. Maj. Gen. Xaverio Kahinda Otafiire has defended purchases of Munyonyo land which he is accused of grabbing forcefully.
He made remarks on Tuesday at the parliament of Uganda shortly after being vetted minister of internal affairs by the parliament committee on appointments.
Otafiire who is locking horns with Amdan Khan, an Indian national businessman in Uganda has said that he is the rightful owner of a nine-acre piece of land in wuestion.
The disputed land is located in Munyonyo Kampala near martyrs shrine and on the overlooks of Lake Victoria.
The wrangle follow Maj. Gen. Otafiire’s actions on Thursday last week where he allegedly ordered his military guards to destroy an under-construction structure on the disputed plot.
This prompted Khan to report the matte at Katwe Police Station last Thursday when soldiers, allegedly acting on the orders of the minister-designate, knocked down the wall of the house he was building on the plot. By the time police reached the scene, the soldiers had already left.
Acase of criminal trespass and malicious damage of property has since been lodged by Khan against Maj Gen Otafiire.
On contrary, Otafiire first filed a defense at Katwe police station and later opened a case at same police gainst Khan.
According to Khan, he bought the land at UShs2,000 from a one Afanasic Temaligwe in 1979, and he has owned it for decades as a kibanja holder.
“I told Kahinda Otafiire that if he knows that the land belongs to him, let him file a case against me at police or court and we face the law,” he said Khan said.
Responding to questions fired to him by journalists, Maj Gen Otafiire said he bought the disputed land in 2011 as a mailo land from a one Christopher Obey, former principal accountant in the Ministry of Public Service, who is said to have acquired it from a one Geraldine in 1991.
Police says Temaligwe who is said to have sold land to Khan also passed on, and they were unable to access the records at the land registry to establish the actual owner of this land.
They however said that they are investigating the matter to establish the rightful owner of the land.
Last year, Maj. Gen. Otafiire dominated media reports inwhich he was named in various land disputes the most popular being involved in the forceful grabbing of Njeru farm land in Buikwe.
