By Andrew Irumba
Wakiso: There is a bloody land war raging on between city businessmen Godfrey Kirumira and Moses Angol.
The land under contention is located in Kasanje Sub-county, along Mabamba Road in Wakiso district and measures 11 acres. Kirumira claims to have bought the contested land from Julius Bitature in 1997, while Angol claims to have bought the same land and also has title from Bitature. On Monday, one of the claimants deployed a group of men to slash people’s crops on the land, which led a scuffle with the squatters. Officers from Kasange police station led by their OC intervened and arrested 14 people who were slashing the crops, as they investigate the matter.
Kirumira says the land wrangle escalated when the offices of Wakiso and Entebbe RDCs ordered for mediation even when court is yet to decide on the matter. The Deputy RDC in charge of Entebbe Noor Njuki has since denied the claim. According to documents before the Entebbe Chief Magistrate’s court, Kirumira claims to have bought 11 acres of land from Julius Bitature who handed him a title proving ownership. He says Bitature sold the same land to Angol in 2008 and provided him a sales agreement. Kirumira had earlier offered the land to his family for use but it was abandoned. Angol constructed a house on the same piece of land. Ronald Kasule, a resident of the area, says the wrangle over the land has led to increased instability in the area.
He says they are under constant threats from security personnel to vacate the land. Wakiso Resident District Commissioner, Rose Kirabira, says the insecurity caused by different security organs because of the land feud is regrettable. Kirabira pleads with the affected people for forgiveness and asked the warring parties to stop using security organs to intimidate residents. Kirabira says preliminary information obtained by her office attributes the dispute on double dealing by Bitature who sold the same land to different parties, which makes him culpable under the law. In March 2019, Angol petitioned Entebbe Magistrates to stop Kirumira from conducting any activities on the land. He also prayed court to determine the rightful owner of the disputed land, although the ruling is yet to be made by court. This has however sparked off a protracted land wrangle between the two men, with Kirumira asserting that the land is his and that all trespassers, including Angol, have to vacate it immediately.
