Uganda’s Land Bill : Let the People Decide!
For many years now, numerous land wrangles and disputes have left parties dead or at least vowing to kill each other. My grandfather owned land which he lent to many of his friends and the local subcounty. He however did not document the transactions.
When the time came for his children to reclaim their fathers land, hell broke loose! The squatters stormed the old man’s home wielding machetes, spears, knives, bows and arrows and accused my grandfather of ‘stealing’ their land. For this reason, I’m not surprised when I see Ugandans crying foul and desperately opposing the recent Land bill.
Uganda's land problems stem from the colonial era, when British masters abused the natives' rights to own land by giving away their land to collaborating chiefs in Buganda. The Buganda agreement sealed it all and has resulted into the unprecedented land conflicts which are manifesting strongly today. The colonial masters facilitated land grabbing by allocating land owned by people to the local leaders. The 1900 agreement made a segment of people in Buganda tenants on their own land. For that reason, it must be clearly registered by everyone that our land problems today were not our making.Having read the land bill, I don’t see how the state will grab people’s land. However, the way the government is pulling and pushing ropes on this raises suspicion.
There are reports of bribery going on in parliament, directed at buying out some of the members of parliament, who are opposed to the land bill. Hon Otto Odonga, Member of Parliament for Aruu County was recently prevented by the speaker of parliament Edward Sekandi from naming some of the legislators involved.
http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=2972
