Here Is The 9,000 Square Miles
Mar 04, 2003
MANY questions have been asked by various people as to what is meant by the 9,000 square miles of land Buganda wants back.
By Peter Mulira
MANY questions have been asked by various people as to what is meant by the 9,000 square miles of land Buganda wants back. Many want to know where this land is located.
To understand this, one must first understand the landholding system in Buganda prior to 1900. All land was vested in the Kabaka by virtue of his dual role of Ssabataka.
From the above concept flowed a number of interests. The first one was known as Kabaka’s land, which included large plantations and other land from which food and revenue were derived to support the Kabaka’s office. This was not personal property and would be passed on to the next holder of the office.
The next category was the official land, which was attached to the office of notables who helped in the administration of the kingdom. This too went with the office. The third category was the clan land. For example, a lot of land along Masaka road belongs to Kobe clan while Gomba county is almost exclusively Nseenene clan territory.
The common people were not forgotten. In Buganda everybody has a right to own an interest in land provided he respects the head title. Thus, officials normally gave ebibanja or tenures on their official estates and this type of holding was known as ettaka ly’obwesenze, which meant a common person’s holding on official land. It was like a lease although its characteristics were more permanent and protected.
The Kabaka or clan leaders used to give out gifts of land to individuals regardless of their station in life. Any commoner who acquired tenure on privately owned land, acquired ettaka ly’obusenze as opposed to obwesenze on official land
By 1900, most of the land in Buganda was settled, delineated and cultivated under a well-settled system of landholding. however, a lot of land was still wasteland due to natural and geographical reasons like tsetse flies, pests, animals, forests, swamps, which were not conducive to human settlement. This land nevertheless remained the kingdom’s land through the Kabaka’s office.
When the 1900 Agreem-ent was made, certain assumptions were inevit-able. For example, it was assumed that the area of Buganda Kingdom amou-nted to 19,600 square miles of which 1,500 square miles were assum-ed to be forests and 9,000 assumed to be wasteland and uncultivated land or land occupied by squatters. These two areas totalling 10,500sq. miles were vested in Her Majesty’s government to be controlled by the Uganda Administration and came to be known as crown land. The 958sq. miles were reserved and allotted as official estate, 92sq. miles were allotted to three missionary societies, 50sq. miles had already been given to government prior to the Agreement to establish government stations at Kampala, Entebbe, Masaka, etc. This was not part of crown land but government held the 50 square miles under statutory leases.
One thousand chiefs and commoners each received of 8sq. miles of estates which they were already in possession of, which is a total of 8,000 sq. miles.
The lukiiko was left to decide on the validity of claims of landowners both chiefs and commoners, and in the end many of them received much less than the 8square miles anticipated.
The distribution of the 8,000sq. miles was not discriminatory between the privileged class and commoners as most people think, since the land went to the chiefs and commoners according to the estates they held prior to 1900, and not according to the status in the realm.
Secondly, the Kabaka ceded the 9,000sq. miles to the crown of England and at independence it was symbolically returned through Buganda Land Board not through the 20 counties. Ends
MANY questions have been asked by various people as to what is meant by the 9,000 square miles of land Buganda wants back. Many want to know where this land is located.
To understand this, one must first understand the landholding system in Buganda prior to 1900. All land was vested in the Kabaka by virtue of his dual role of Ssabataka.
From the above concept flowed a number of interests. The first one was known as Kabaka’s land, which included large plantations and other land from which food and revenue were derived to support the Kabaka’s office. This was not personal property and would be passed on to the next holder of the office.
The next category was the official land, which was attached to the office of notables who helped in the administration of the kingdom. This too went with the office. The third category was the clan land. For example, a lot of land along Masaka road belongs to Kobe clan while Gomba county is almost exclusively Nseenene clan territory.
The common people were not forgotten. In Buganda everybody has a right to own an interest in land provided he respects the head title. Thus, officials normally gave ebibanja or tenures on their official estates and this type of holding was known as ettaka ly’obwesenze, which meant a common person’s holding on official land. It was like a lease although its characteristics were more permanent and protected.
The Kabaka or clan leaders used to give out gifts of land to individuals regardless of their station in life. Any commoner who acquired tenure on privately owned land, acquired ettaka ly’obusenze as opposed to obwesenze on official land
By 1900, most of the land in Buganda was settled, delineated and cultivated under a well-settled system of landholding. however, a lot of land was still wasteland due to natural and geographical reasons like tsetse flies, pests, animals, forests, swamps, which were not conducive to human settlement. This land nevertheless remained the kingdom’s land through the Kabaka’s office.
When the 1900 Agreem-ent was made, certain assumptions were inevit-able. For example, it was assumed that the area of Buganda Kingdom amou-nted to 19,600 square miles of which 1,500 square miles were assum-ed to be forests and 9,000 assumed to be wasteland and uncultivated land or land occupied by squatters. These two areas totalling 10,500sq. miles were vested in Her Majesty’s government to be controlled by the Uganda Administration and came to be known as crown land. The 958sq. miles were reserved and allotted as official estate, 92sq. miles were allotted to three missionary societies, 50sq. miles had already been given to government prior to the Agreement to establish government stations at Kampala, Entebbe, Masaka, etc. This was not part of crown land but government held the 50 square miles under statutory leases.
One thousand chiefs and commoners each received of 8sq. miles of estates which they were already in possession of, which is a total of 8,000 sq. miles.
The lukiiko was left to decide on the validity of claims of landowners both chiefs and commoners, and in the end many of them received much less than the 8square miles anticipated.
The distribution of the 8,000sq. miles was not discriminatory between the privileged class and commoners as most people think, since the land went to the chiefs and commoners according to the estates they held prior to 1900, and not according to the status in the realm.
Secondly, the Kabaka ceded the 9,000sq. miles to the crown of England and at independence it was symbolically returned through Buganda Land Board not through the 20 counties. Ends