Why we have to confront the Bulambuli land question now
When the National Resistance Movement (NRM), under the able leadership of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, took over the leadership of Uganda in 1986, efforts to restore peace in lower Bulambuli started, but it was not until the late 2000s that we started to see total peace.
Why we have to confront the Bulambuli land question now
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By Emmanuel Wepukhulu Biara
From the 1970s to the 1990s, residents of lower Bulambuli District were forced to flee their homes because of insecurity that was occasioned by the Karimojong cattle rustlers.
The attacks left our people destitute as thousands of cattle from which our people derived a livelihood were rustled by the Karimojong karacunas.
When the National Resistance Movement (NRM), under the able leadership of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, took over the leadership of Uganda in 1986, efforts to restore peace in lower Bulambuli started, but it was not until the late 2000s that we started to see total peace.
This was after the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) established a military barracks in a place called Kata in Bunambutye sub-county.
The land grabbers are mainly politicians who collude with powerful businessmen to sell residents’ land for as low as sh300,000 per acre. Residents who resist the land grabbing schemes are threatened, while others have been dragged to courts of law, where the highest bidders have ended up as winners.
Because of the land grabbing in Bulambuli, big agricultural farms have been established in the area at the expense of the local people. It is good to have investors in the district, but they should not thrive at the expense of the common man; let’s have a win-win situation.
As part of the effort to rid the district of land grabbers, we have invited the lands minister, Judith Nabakooba, to make a locus visit to the area and get a firsthand experience of the fraud that is happening.
Even before the minister visits, we have been warned that confronting the land grabbers may cost some of us our political careers, but we are not scared.
In an effort to empower our people, we have decided to confront the land question and settle it once and for all.
Our mission of fighting for the rights of our people must not be misinterpreted to mean that we are targeting individuals. We are just playing our part in building a fair and transparent Bulambuli, where genuine landowners are protected, disputes are resolved lawfully, investors are supported, and our people can confidently use their land to transform their livelihoods.
As we welcome the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development to the area, we pray that God gives us the wisdom, courage and protection necessary to resolve the matter amicably.
If we resolve the issue and put the land to productive use, Bulambuli can become a regional food basket and create opportunities for residents and other Ugandans.
For God and My Country.
The writer is the Member of Parliament for Bulambuli County.