Karamoja wants land Bill delayed
Aug 20, 2008
KARAMOJA wants the Land Amendment Bill shelved until all its land is registered.
By Mary Karugaba
KARAMOJA wants the Land Amendment Bill shelved until all its land is registered.
The chairman of the Karamoja Parliamentary Group, Fr. Samuel Lokodo, yesterday said many people in the sub-region preferred their land to be registered under their clans.
In Karamoja, 90% of the free land is communally owned and about 10 % is owned by the Government in form of natural reserves.
“At first, they did not know what the land Bill was about. They wondered whether it was applicable to them since there are no evictions in Karamoja.
When we explained to them, they said it should be stayed since most of the land is communally owned,†Lokodo told journalists at parliament.
Lokodo added that the Karimojong “thought that the Bill was formulated to grab their landâ€.
He said a group of investors, claiming to have acquired a huge chunk of land in Karamoja, wanted to evict people.
“They claim to be dealing in mineral mining and have acquired land in almost every district in Karamoja. The residents have informed us that these investors have even started chasing them from their grazing land.â€
He urged the Government to investigate the group.
On the recent attacks on three Gateway buses, Lokodo attributed the problem to the laxity of the police and the army.
“I blame the security agencies for failing to patrol the place to stop such activities,†he said.
Karamoja affairs minister Aston Kajara defended the security agencies, saying despite the recent ambushes, there has been relative peace in the area.
He said over 25,000 illegal guns had been recovered during the disarmament exercise.
Over 1000 police officers have been deployed to patrol the area, the minister added.
KARAMOJA wants the Land Amendment Bill shelved until all its land is registered.
The chairman of the Karamoja Parliamentary Group, Fr. Samuel Lokodo, yesterday said many people in the sub-region preferred their land to be registered under their clans.
In Karamoja, 90% of the free land is communally owned and about 10 % is owned by the Government in form of natural reserves.
“At first, they did not know what the land Bill was about. They wondered whether it was applicable to them since there are no evictions in Karamoja.
When we explained to them, they said it should be stayed since most of the land is communally owned,†Lokodo told journalists at parliament.
Lokodo added that the Karimojong “thought that the Bill was formulated to grab their landâ€.
He said a group of investors, claiming to have acquired a huge chunk of land in Karamoja, wanted to evict people.
“They claim to be dealing in mineral mining and have acquired land in almost every district in Karamoja. The residents have informed us that these investors have even started chasing them from their grazing land.â€
He urged the Government to investigate the group.
On the recent attacks on three Gateway buses, Lokodo attributed the problem to the laxity of the police and the army.
“I blame the security agencies for failing to patrol the place to stop such activities,†he said.
Karamoja affairs minister Aston Kajara defended the security agencies, saying despite the recent ambushes, there has been relative peace in the area.
He said over 25,000 illegal guns had been recovered during the disarmament exercise.
Over 1000 police officers have been deployed to patrol the area, the minister added.