KANUNGU
Two Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) are on spot for allegedly depriving family members of their right to a 70.2 acre land in Kihanda Sub County, Kanungu District.
The RDCs, Hajji Shafik Sekandi and Amanyire Ambrose Mwesigye are accused of orchestrating and colluding with a section of family members and dealers to forcefully take over a mineral rich land.
It is alleged that the land in question at Ibarya Cell (Village) was previously owned by Mzee Blasio Bamuturaki and his wife Joy Evelyn Kyabasasaki who lived on it from the 1950s till their deaths in 1994 and 2004.
Family members say that upon the death of Kyabasasaki, Hajji Sekandi then RDC hatched a plan and colluded with a family member, Ms Anna Kyahamutima to force out other family members from the land.
It is alleged that before his transfer from Kanungu District, RDC Sekandi linked the land grab deal to high profile officials in government among them in State House and the Ministry of Water and Environment.
Hajj Sekandi, who has since been transferred to Kisoro District, was replaced by Mr Mwesigye, who is now leading the struggle to dispossess the family of their interest in their estate.
Ambrose Mwesige jointly with his deputy Rugajju, Giso, Barigye is accused of organizing the ongoing destruction of the family property to include a house and the plantation.
Christine Joy Tusiime, a family member revealed that the cartel was big to include LCI chairperson Ms Jessica Tindimwebwa, LCIII chairperson for Kihanda Sub County Mr Davis Asiimwe, LCII chairperson Lemegio Tumwesigye, Ambrose Barigye (Kanungu Giso) as well as deputy RDC Gad Rugajju.
“The dispute that forced me to flee my mother land, Uganda started in 2004 after the death of our mother, my sister (Anna) took possession of the family property and took control. The RDC then did a report and it is from then that they started targeting destroying the plantations on the land and bringing many people to cultivate on the land to defeat the interest of the rightful beneficiary,” says a tearfully speaking Tusiime.
In 2023, Tusiime fled the country and she is currently living in the United Kingdom for the safety of her life.
While recounting the mysterious deaths of her brothers and sisters on the land, Tusiime, 56, also revealed that grabbers used her sister on the frontline to torture her and the relatives. She alleges that RDC Mwesige with his deputy Rugajju and RDC Sekandi vainly colluded to arrest her from Mbarara Administrator General’s office while using police and military.
She has now appealed to President Museveni to intervene and cause investigation into RDC Mwesigye and others with the grabbers who are using a motor vehicle with ICRP, a project funded by the World Bank.
“I believe the World Bank cannot fund such a project marred with irregularities and violations,” says Tusiime accusing the Police in Kanungu of declining to register a case of malicious damage to property that was reported by her aide.
She added: “As I speak, RDC Mwesigye and his deputy Rugajju are making business on our land through charcoal burning, destroying the house and sadly when I contacted the police for help, they just kept quiet. I am humbly appealing to the President to intervene in this matter to rescue me from these notorious criminals pretending to work for the government.”
Tusiime alleges that in December 2023, RDC Mwesigye and policeman Zaviour Nishaba and Constable Daniel Byensi led a group of people that stole livestock and poultry on top of arresting and imprisoning her workers.
Accusing her sister of destroying the graveyards of their siblings, Tusiime states that the cartel advised her Kyahamutima to open up multiple frivolous criminal cases against her to frustrate her effort to acquire letters of administration on the land.
According to Tusiime, the criminal gang also fronted Rachael Tushabe, a police lady who is daughter to her sister to torment her with the numerous fake case files which prompted her February 2023 petition to security agencies but without any help.
She further revealed that the land in dispute was put on caveat she lodged in 2021 after her sister declined to attend meetings with the authorities.
“I suffered under the hands of the RDC, deputy RDC Rugajju and the Police because they organized arrests and tortured me so that I could lose interest but this is our ancestral land and all I appeal for is justice in all this,” says Tusiime adding that whatever is being done on their land must follow the law.
In May 2023, Tusiime petitioned the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) complaining against the fake accusations brought against her to defeat her interest in the ancestral land.
In February 2023, she also petitioned the Commandant of Flying Squad Unit seeking for intervention, track and trace a one Lt Simon from UPDF and policeman Walter Okello among others and bring them to book for attempted kidnap as well as life threatening acts to her life.
According to Tusiime, none of her complaints was ever responded too apart from receiving letters from State House land matters accusing her of intermeddling.
In a telephone contact, RDC Mwesigye laughed off advising this publication to go to the ground to do verification of the claims.
“But I think she (Tusiime) is a very dishonest person because she came to my office in 2023 alleging that her sister, Kyahamutima was chasing her from land. I went there and I found when they had a conflict on their late father’s land and they did not have a title for it. It was with their brother,” he said.
While denying involvement in the dispute, Mwesigye said that he held meetings on ground in their presence and I advised them to go to the administrator general’s office
According to Mwesigye, the land conflict aside, there is a government irrigation project where peoples’ land was valued under the Ministry of Water to construct a dam on their land.
He said there are a number of families affected and they were consulted in 2022 and their land was valued in 2023 and valuation reports were shared with them in 2023 including that woman and they consented and their family was paid Shs1 billion which was shared between Christine and her sister on account.
“Now the houses that have been demolished are those which are supposed to be removed for the project to begin and that woman was paid duly,” he added.
Mwesigye revealed: “They were paid on December 19, 2024 and they were supposed to leave immediately. We said since the project still has some time to start, let them still be enjoying their gardens and crops but some months back, we went where the project is supposed to begin this month, now the ministry people went and told everybody whose property had been paid for to leave and all other people left voluntarily.”
According to Mwesigye, Christine’s sister have a house there but she (Christine) does not and they also have an old ancestral house and also graveyards which were all affected but they were all paid for and now the two sisters are not there but they left a daughter called Allen who kept in the house, we went there and told her to leave because the project is supposed to begin.”
Mwesigye said that they held community meetings with all the affected families and told them to vacate because it is now the property of the government of Uganda.
“Being a government land because everything is documented, the ministry of water people went and requested for security and demolished their house to take over and begin work genuinely. Money was paid to all those people’s accounts and valuation reports were shared and all documents are available with correspondences,” said Mwesigye adding that he can stand to defend it.
When contacted, Rugajju denied any involvement saying he did not handle anything related to land in Kihanda.
“For me, my issue is mainly Kihihi and borderline and my concentration and task is on security matters to do with national parks, then border. That is where I am involved. I am very certain that it is mistaken identity,” he said.
