Officials from the office of the Prime Minister have been ordered to halt all activities on a contested piece of land in Bukinda parish Kyangwali sub-county in Kikuube district.
The land measuring up to 36 square kilometre is under contention between officials from Kyangwali refugee settlement area and over 10,000 families who were brutally evicted by the officials from the Prime Minister’s office for alleged encroachment.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja discovered that some officials from the OPM and Kyangwali refugee settlement area had connived to erect structures for refugees on the contested land.
This was during her visit on Saturday to assess the condition of the evictees.
She also found that the officials had connived and planted crops like beans, maize, cassava, bananas and groundnuts among others.
The Premier said this could be a move by some officials in OPM and Kyangwali refugee settlement area to fraudulently grab the said land from locals neighboring the Kyangwali refugee settlement area.
Nabbanja has now ordered the Minister for disaster preparedness, the Camp commandant of Kyangwali refugee’s settlement area, Kikuube District Police commander and Resident district commissioner to ensure that no more activity takes place on the contested land until investigations into the wrangles are completed.
She had earlier clashed with Jolly Kebirungi, the Regional Refugees desk officer who informed her that there was no eviction in the area and that residents were living in peace. However, upon visiting the ground, the Prime Minister discovered something else.
The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Judith Nabakoba, called for the reopening of the boundary of Kyangwali refugee’s settlement area so that government can know where its land passes.
