Priest accused of evicting locals

Jan 28, 2009

RESIDENTS of Rubaga in Kamuli district have accused the Catholic parish priest, the Rev. Fr. Peter Mubiru, of evicting them from their land.

By Donald Kiirya
and Doreen Musingo


RESIDENTS of Rubaga in Kamuli district have accused the Catholic parish priest, the Rev. Fr. Peter Mubiru, of evicting them from their land.

They claim St. Joseph Vocational Institute, Rubaga Boys’ Primary School, Rubaga Church, Kamuli Mission Hospital and the midwifery training school were constructed on land that was donated to the Catholic Mission by their grandfathers several years ago.

The complaints were raised during a consultative meeting chaired by the district secretary for health and education, Rehema Watongola, at Rubaga Boys Primary School on Monday.

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, who is also the Kamuli district Woman MP, the district LC5 chairman, Stephen Mubiru and Kamuli town LC3 chairman Peter Muwanga, attended the meeting.

One of the residents, Christopher Mawanda, said: “We were falsely evicted from land that belonged to our fore fathers.”

“We have also been informed that for any of us to buy the land, one has to first pay sh50,000 to Kamuli town council, sh100,000 to the church mission and sh150,000 to the courts in Jinja district.”

He said some of the residents have stayed on the land for over 40 years. Mawanda alleged that they were being exploited by the authorities who have connived with the Church to grab their land.

Mubiru refuted the allegations, showed a copy of the land title signed by the registrar of lands to the members present at the meeting and challenged the residents to prove that the Church was evicting them.

He said the Church only carried out a census to verify the number of people living on the land, adding that all the squatters were bonifide occupants who could stay for as long as they wanted.

“The episcopes in the mission purchased land from different individuals and secured its ownership on February 17, 1936,” said Mubiru.

He disclosed that the Church mission secured over 600 acres of land. The squatters, Mubiru said, were required to register any new developments they had constructed on the land with the Church.

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