Three UPDF officers implicated in land grabbing
UPDF soldiers, Liutenant Colonel Nasul Kibeti, retired Major Leonard Chemonges and Lieutenant Chetokoyi Mwanga have been accused of grabbing land of Babukusu tribe in Kween District.
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59 year old Mukhwana Elud Sindani, a resident of Ayorei village in Kween district brought these to the attention of the Commission of Inquiry during a public hearing led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire.
These he says started forming groups to occupy the land of Babukusu tribe.
“After the settlement, some people started forming groups led by Ndyema Komboy, Lt.Kibeti, Maj. Chemonges and Lt Chetokoyi to takeover our land,” he said.
Mukhwana accuses, Chemonges of surveying his land on 6th February, 2009 with the UPDF soldiers something that pushed them into talking to the local leaders about the mater. These held various meetings to talk about the wrong way their land issues were being handled but all their efforts were in vain.
He further says that the Babukusu are being accused of not being Ugandans but rather Kenyans something that is building motivation among the Sabinyi to grab their land.
“On 9th February 2017, this same group came and told us to go back to Kenya claiming that we are not Ugandans,” Mukhwana said.
Mukhwana narrates that when he went hard on these people, they started incriminating them with cases including criminal trespassing, forceful entry of land and inciting violence.
“Mumya Paul made a complaint against me, with Wanyama John Masinde and Bwekesa Matayo over cases of criminal trespassing and inciting violence.”
On trying to reach the UPDF spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire to enlighten us more on the issue of the accused UPDF officers, he told Nile post that he is yet to verify if these names exist among the UPDF soldiers including verification whether the issue is land grabbing or land acquisition.
This land issue in Kween District is an ethnic conflict between the Sabinyi’s and Babukusu that originates from the displacement in 1979.
