Former presidential candidate, Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye has warned that if government does not stop giving away citizens’ land to ‘investors,’ the issue could result into war.
Besigye was today morning addressing the press at his home when he explained that the president has on several occasion given away Ugandan land to foreigners without considering the repercussions.
He says very many Ugandans have lost lives during brutal land evictions by the rich and famous government leaning tycoons, and its high time, the issue is discussed.
Besigye’s concerns come after a deal to sell off land owned by UBC turned into a public concern as an MP, Hon. Margaret Muhanga told COSASE that she purchased the said land at a tune of 10Bn shillings which she paid in cash. This same land was allegedly sold to three other people in a space of 1 hour.
Besigye warns that citizens need to pay more attention to land issues. “They are issues that can lead to war. These land questions, our country should not take them lightly and I get a sense that many of our people are not focusing on this issue and will only focus on it when it is already a disaster.”
The opposition strong man challenged government to train Ugandan citizens on land registration and land markets as they have no knowledge about the two issues.
“Investors are flocking our country today approaching our peasants to buy land off them, our peasants don’t have don’t know anything about land markets. An investor coming with 1 million USD can buy a whole sub county of land” Besigye said.
Besigye also laughed sarcastically at the Burahya county MP, Hon. Margaret Muhanga over her claim that she carried 10Bn shillings in cash. “You must have seen last night the Hon. Muhanga who was saying she bought UBC land, public land and took 10Billion shillings in cash. And they asked her where did you get this land, she said I sold my goats and cows. If you sell a cow at 1 million, you will need 10,000 cows to sell to raise that money and then you put it on a pickup and take it to a lwayer to but public land.”