MPs have accused the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) of forcibly acquiring land belonging to their savings and credit co-operative society (SACCO) and Ssese Habitat in Namwabula village, Mpigi District, which is valued at sh33.3b.

Parliament's Committee on Budget which is chaired by the Kachumbala County MP, Patrick Isiagi Opolot, said in its latest report that it “noted with concern the occupation of land by UPDF before acquisition procedures are undertaken”.

This is contained in its report on the National Budget Framework Paper for the financial year 2024/25 to 2028/29, which was approved by Parliament with amendments on January 31, 2024.

“During the financial year 2024/25, a provision of sh17.661b has been made, leaving a gap of sh157.3b. In addition, UPDF compulsorily acquired land belonging to Parliamentary SACCO and Ssese Habitat at Namwabula, Mpigi District valued at sh33.3b,” Opolot told the House while presenting the report for approval.

He said the committee recommended that UPDF be provided sh157.3b in the financial year 2024/25 to compensate all claims.

Defence minister explains

However, when contacted, Jacob Marksons Oboth, the state minister for Defence and West Budama Central MP, denied the accusations of compulsorily acquiring the Parliamentary SACCO land.

“It is just a coincidence that part of the land the UPDF is occupying belongs to the Parliamentary SACCO. The UPDF is already occupying part of that land and so, it is not the question of whether we shall take it. And we don’t determine the price; the price is determined by the chief government valuer and we shall go with what the chief government valuer will give us,” he said.

Oboth stated that is the procedure and it is not the individual MPs that they are dealing with as the ministry. 

“We are dealing with the parliamentary SACCO on their behalf. So, there is nothing there which is uncommon,” he told New Vision.

The minister also said that the issue of procurement of land or determination of land for the UPDF is determined by many factors.

“We don’t announce where we need land for strategic security and defence-related objectives. That is why for us it is not grabbing; we take and then pay for it. So, the [payment] process is on and they should be able to let the whole world know that it is not about grabbing because we didn’t go there knowing the land is for the parliamentary SACCO. We knew there were some individuals but we don’t know the real owner. You go [occupy the land] and the owner comes out but we are in occupation,” he said.

He stressed that the land in question does not only belong to the Parliamentary SACCO but there are also other owners around it like Ssese Habitat.