Kadaga wants law to protect public land

By Innocent Anguyo and Norman Katende

Parliament Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, is advocating for a law to protect public land.

The Speaker noted that rapid urbanization was threatening to consume all public lands irrespective of its cultural value to the people.

She said Parliament was considering coming up with a Bill to protect public land.

“We need to defend public spaces. We have to protect these spaces for the future,” noted Kadaga who described people who encroach onto public land as “enemies of cultural heritage”.

Kadaga made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony held at the Uganda National Cultural Centre (National Theatre) where she launched the cultural gala.

The cultural gala is a weekly dose of entertainment showcasing Ugandan culture. The gala will be held every Sunday, from 3,00pm. It exhibits all kinds of cultural performances such as dance, art, storytelling, fashion, catwalk, live music among others.

Recounting her childhood exploits, Kadaga said while growing up in Naguru Housing Estate, every Sunday she used to watch cultural performances on a public space at Lugogo, which has since been replaced by private buildings.

“What you can now see at Lugogo is shopping malls and buildings. That’s where I first saw the Adungu (musical instrument) of the Alur. Soon even the little space left there will be built,” she noted.

Kadaga “sadly” narrated how her former primary school, Shimoni Demonstration was demolished to pave way for a building “which has never been completed”.

A law to protect the remaining public land, Kadaga observed was needed as soon as yesterday.

 “It is not only Lugogo but many public s are being taken. Schools are losing land and so are other institutions. We have to come up with a bill as soon as possible to protect public land. The public needs this land for better development,” said Kadaga.

She commended the leadership of UNCC for initiating the cultural gala, saying it will provide an opportunity for families to come together and have quality albeit interacting with a wide array of Ugandan cultures.

“It’s an opportunity for the whole family to be carnivorous. You know in our society men go to the bar and eat meat alone while the wives and children are at home eating dodo. Since they sell meat (roasted) here (National Theater), the entire family can become carnivorous,” said Kadaga to the amusement of the guests.

She urged UNCC to spread performances across the country so that all Ugandan may get a chance to know more about the cultures in the “Pearl of Africa.”

Francis Peter Ojede, the Executive Director of UNCC said the institution was set to set up four new regional cultural centres in the north, east, west and central-in a bid to persevere, promote and popularize Ugandan culture across the country.

Most likely, he said the regional centres would be built in phases and plans to acquire land were in advanced stages. The four regional centres would take sh10b to come to fruition.

Ojede nevertheless complained of underfunding, saying the sh27m he receives annually from government to maintain run the institution is too little, especially when remuneration for staff costs sh60m every month.

He said as much as UNCC was generating some money through charging on parking on its premises and hiring out its premises for private functions, the administration barely made enough to run the institution efficiently.

Ojede asked Kadaga to help UNCC acquire more funding from government by rallying parliament to award the institution a vote.

Kadaga said government would soon bring a Bill on UNCC to the House.

She told MPs who attended the launch: “you know what these people want; they don’t have a vote, during the time of the State of the Nation Address and the budget, please say something about it. And if it can be included in the recommendation of the committee, it will go a long way in assisting them.”

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