Buganda Clan, Maj. Gen. Kayanja fight over Matugga land

Maj. Gen. Elly Kayanja and members of Mpologoma (lion) clan of Buganda are embroiled in a land row involving 25 acres in Matugga, Wakiso district.

The land is part of 644 acres owned by the Mpologoma clan in Matugga. Clan leaders want Kayanja's lease which is expiring next month not to be renewed, but sources in the leadership of the clan say Kayanja is in advanced stages of getting the lease renewed with the support of Buganda Land Board (BLB).

According to the clan, Kayanja wants to give only three acres of the contested land to the clan upon renewal of the lease he got in 1993. 

In a meeting held on Friday at the clan's headquarters in Matugga, the Mpologoma clan's former Katikkiro, Francis Xavier Kateregga, said Kayanja had earlier proposed to give them three acres of land and that it is the same idea being fronted by BLB.

KATIKKIRO'S DIRECTIVE

The clan members also protested a move by Buganda Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga to have the land divided into two portions, a proposal initiated by Kayanja and BLB.

"If Gen. Kayanja, who owns a lease on the land is willing to leave part of the land to the clan, I do not see any problem with it because it is better than nothing," Mayiga stated in a letter dated July 2.

Mayiga also advised the clan to appoint trustees in which the property should be registered, lest be registered in the name of ‘Kabaka of Buganda'.

PROTEST

The clan's secretary, Isaac Michaels Mwenge, said they are against the takeover of the land by Kayanja because of its historical and cultural values to Buganda.

"The land serves as the headquarters for the fi rst 22 clans in Buganda, we cannot allow Kayanja to take it. We are surprised that Mayiga has never responded to any of our letters in regard to the matter, but instead responded to that of BLB dated June 30, 2020," Mwenge noted. This, Mwenge says, is a sign of undermining the clan.

"The Kabaka ordered BLB to give us our title but it is shocking that BLB and Katikkiro have defi ed him and instead opted to give it to Gen. Kayanja as if he is superior to the clan," Mwenge noted.

He disclosed that they have been quiet because former Katikkiro John Baptist Walusimbi had implored them to stay calm until Kayanja's lease expires.

The head of the clan, Wilson Ndawula Ssebuganda, thanked the committee members for fighting for their clan while the clan's spokesperson Kimaka Sserwadda said it should be the clan members to decide how to use the land.

NO COMMENT

When contacted, Buganda Kingdom's minister of information Noah Kiyimba declined to comment on the matter, saying it was being handled by BLB. Efforts to get a comment from Maj. Gen. Kayanja were futile as our repeated calls to his known phone number went unanswered.