Col Nakalema orders police to halt development of disputed Mutungo land

The head of the State House Anti-corruption Unit Col. Edith Nakalema has ordered the police to halt all developments on the disputed land in Mutungo-Butabika, a Kampala suburb.

This is the land where over 200 families are living in fear of being evicted by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) without any compensation.

The National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) revealed that the affected residents illegally occupied a wetland.

While attending to the dispute which have lasted over 20 years, Nakalema asked security forces to ensure that the residents are protected from eviction and also arrest suspects involved in the sale of this piece of land.

"Police don’t allow any new occupant to come in this place. No one has a right to evict any person from this place at the moment. Please stay calm, the government will resolve this matter, ”she said.

She requested the Ministry of Lands to nullify land titles of the contested piece land because they were illegally acquired adding that it is a wetland which can neither be titled nor sold by a private individual.

Nakalema instructed the surveyors to work with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to ensure they accurately mark the boundaries between Mutungo or Butabika, one of the issues causing conflict in the area.

In her remarks, Allen Kagina, the executive director at UNRA ,shared that the Constitution guides that land in swamps or wetlands cannot be titled or owned, noting that this area is one of the interests in the ongoing Kampala-Jinja Express road project.

"We are planning to construct a road through this area but we cannot compensate anyone before conflicts are resolved because we may compensate the wrong people," she said.

She requested Nakalema to investigate how agencies in government issued titles in a swamp.