Nabakooba halts activities on disputed 640-acre Nakaseke land

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Lands minister Judith Nabakooba has halted activities on a disputed 640-acre piece of land in Butalangu town council, Nakaseke district.

The land, which covers two villages of Muwaluzi village A and B, sits on Block 321 plots 2,3,4 and Block 784.

According to Charles Kazungu, the Muwaluzi village chairperson, the dispute started in 2020 after some officials from the Buganda Kingdom allegedly visited the area and collected ground rent from locals.

During the same time, another group claiming to be from Bunyoro Kingdom also visited the same land claiming ownership.

In a meeting she convened in Muwaluzi on April 30, 2025, Nabakooba instructed Nakaseke Resident District Commissioner (RDC) RoseMary Byabasaija to conduct investigations on the contested land and produce a report in one month.

“This will help us ascertain details on this land. Let all Bibanja holders and landlords submit their documents to give us a leeway on what’s next. I have stopped all those claiming to be landlords from coming back to this land until matters are resolved,” she directed.

The minister subsequently directed the district police commander to ensure that no landlord comes back on the land and that locals are given security.

During the meeting, Kazungu said majority of the squatters settled on this land after the guerilla war that brought President Yoweri Museveni into power in 1986.

“We thought it was public land but to our surprise, there is a Mailo land title, an indication that the land belongs to Buganda Kingdom,” he said.

Kazungu also said his plot on the contested land measures 23 acres and had already applied to get a land title thinking it is public land.

Goretti Mukagatar, a councillor representing the area at Butalangu town council said her parents have been squatters on the land for about 40 years.

“Let the district land board tell us why they have been taking people’s money to give them titles, without knowing the exact status of this land,” she said.

Nakaseke senior land management officer Geoffrey Tumusiime said titles on the land with disputes in these areas look to be forged or they did not follow proper procedures before printing them. 

He pledged his commitment to following up on the matter with the minister.

Byabashaija committed to expedite the matter, commending the minister’s efforts of sparing time to meet the affected persons on the ground despite her busy schedule.

Sarah Najjuma Nakaseke, the District Woman MP asked the minister to help the affected villages and if the issue is not resolved, the Government buys them land as the exercise has been in other areas.

“We benefited from land fund in areas of Kapeeka. We are praying even this time our dear President bails us out of this situation.”

At the end of this meeting, Nabakooba announced that she has assumed powers to grant authority for doing boundary opening on land with encumbrances. 

She equally said a committee is going to be instituted in the lands ministry to oversee the issuance of special titles and cancellation of land titles.