Beti Kamya, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (File photo)

LAND EVICTIONS

Land in Uganda is becoming like a boiling pot-very difficult to handle. Even after Beti Kamya, the Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development declared a moratorium on land transactions during the lockdown; land evictions were alive and well. 

In March, President Yoweri Museveni declared a lockdown in order to control and prevent the spread of Coronavirus also known as COVID-19. The lockdown has partially been lifted. 

City tycoons were evicting people and the law enforcement agencies including the Police and the RDCs were on their side, according to Kamya. 

"We stopped land transactions because Courts were also not operating normally and it was difficult for complaints and defendants to access Court," she said, adding that land evictions persisted. 

Kamya said she was launching a campaign to ensure that citizens are sensitised about their rights relating to land. She said this will help them fight for their rights. 

Kamya warned errant officials from Uganda Police Force and RDCs from backing land grabbers who were mercilessly evicting people. 

Kamya said she was going to put the matter before Cabinet with a view of punishing the Police and RDCs who fail to protect the vulnerable groups of people living on land. 

"We have the Police and RDCs in all the areas where evictions are taking place," she said, adding that in most cases they protect the land grabbers and not the vulnerable people. "We are going to discuss this matter in Cabinet and punish them." 

Kamya was speaking on Friday during a press conference during Uganda Media Center in Kampala. 

She said she was going to engage in an aggressive media campaign to ensure that people know their rights. This, according to Kamya is expected to help the citizens to defend themselves against arbitrary land evictions.