Mbarara District missing land titles saga escalates, fault attributed to Leaders over connivance
- FEATUREDNEWSUPCOUNTRY NEWS
- March 25, 2024
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While appearing before District PAC, David Muhwezi, the current chief administrative officer (CAO) of Mbarara district, informed committee that when he assumed the office in July 2023 in Mbarara, he was provided with a parcel of photocopied land titles. On verification, it was discovered that seven original land titles were missing.
During the PAC meeting, it was also established that there is absence of the land title for Bwizibwera land which is situated in Bwizibwera -Rutooma Town Council where the District is planning to construct its headquarters. It is alleged that the land has been encroached on by the former LCV Chairman Fred Ibabaza Kamugira who allegedly used his influence as the then LCV Boss and acquired a title for one acre within that same Government Land.
The committee also discovered that there is encroachment of the Land where the current District Headquarters at Kamukuzi is situated.
During the meeting, CAO Muhwezi, revealed that 20 plots out of the original 37 were allegedly grabbed and removed from the land title in the system, something that has made it difficult to obtain a special land title for Kamukuzi.
When Muhwezi was interrogated by the PAC Members, he attributed the responsibility for the missing land titles to former CAO Edward Kasagara. The committee was also informed that Kasagara has committed to facilitate the recovery of some of the missing titles and he has already paid UGX. 11M for this purpose.
The PAC committee was not satisfied by Muhwezi’s explanation and directed him to get the original titles. He was also directed to write to relevant authorities like Statehouse Anti-corruption Unit, IGG against those people who have encroached on that Government Land and also to Commissioner Lands to cancel illegal titles in Mbarara District Land titles.
However, the former Leadership of Mbarara have attributed this fault of the missing land titles to the current regime.
Capt. Johnbosco Tumusiime Bamuturaki, the former Mbarara District LC5 Chairman has implicated the current regime led by his predecessor Didas Tabaro that they should be held responsible for the missing land titles.
“During my time all the Land titles were safe, we tried and titled most of the lands at Kamukuzi and Bwizibwera. How can you tell me that the district can lose all those titles like that, I suspect maybe they wanted to illegally sell those lands to developers, this matter involves negligence, dubious deals and connivance between those top district political heads and some top officials in the technical wing” said Bamuturaki.
” I must blame the Council and its executive over negligence and connivance. By the way, its only me other than these Tabaro’s who were making noise on me over land, me I saved Kakyeka for a freehold title, I got Kamukuzi hill land which had got three years to expire and renewed the lease upto 99 and I made sure that all lands at the sub-counties are titled. I left the Office when all the titles were renewed, others changed into freehold in the names of the district, how did they disappear? Now, do you want to tell me that all the titles were just kept in one envelope? What some people don’t know, the current leadership led by the Chairman engaged the former CAO Kasagara quietly to print the new titles at his own cost and has already paid for three titles. So how do you come up and tell me that the current CAO should write to Authorities when the other one is already paying back, there I fail to understand you. I also suspect that there is something they are hiding, if they wanted to punish him why did they engage him quietly that he should pay for the printing of new ones, why didn’t they take action against him in the first place? he added.
Bamuturaki has also revealed that there are some people who have been trying to grab forestry land in Bwizibwera until he landed on them and stopped them. He said that he has warned the District Council that on his dead body nobody will temper with that forestry land that belongs to Mbarara District. “Some Local Leaders had been tempted to lease it to some people but I said no one will sell that land” said Bamuturaki.
