Tension has escalated at Kakinga Farm in Nabitanga Sub-county, Lwemiyaga, Sembabule District after a violent clash between farmers occupying the land and security guards employed by livestock farmer Paul Ssembeguya, leaving several people injured.
The conflict stems from a long-running dispute over land that was allocated to Ssembeguya by the government in 2005 for a goat breeding project. The farmers accuse him of attempting to evict them following disagreements over a tenancy arrangement that reportedly required them to surrender a tenth of their harvest as rent.
The latest violence occurred on Saturday night when a group of guards attached to the farm reportedly clashed with farmers. One of the guards, Robert Dhikusooka, sustained serious injuries after allegedly being attacked with machetes.
Dhikusooka, who says he was recruited from Iganga to work at the farm, told Nile Post that at around 8:00pm, he and two colleagues were patrolling the property when they encountered a large group of people.
“We had gone to monitor the farm and secure the livestock. The farm manager, Pius, was leading us. We suddenly met a group of people, and within minutes they attacked us and cut me with machetes,” Dhikusooka said.
He further claimed that during the confrontation, some of his fellow guards, including the farm manager, abandoned him as he was being attacked.
Dhikusooka added that he had initially been brought to the farm as a farmer but was later assigned security duties, which he says put his life in danger.
However, the farmers presented a different account, saying they had received information earlier in the day that the guards were planning to attack them, prompting them to prepare for a possible confrontation.
According to Muhammad Jjumba, a farmer originally from Kagamba in Rakai District, the guards arrived armed with machetes, bows, and arrows.
“When we reached the guard post, our colleague Muleefu had already been seriously injured. We found the guards attacking their colleague Dhikusooka after they had cut Muleefu. It is not us who attacked Dhikusooka,” Jjumba alleged.
The farmers accuse Ssembeguya of turning against the very people he invited onto the land and claim that his livestock regularly destroy their crops.
“His cattle graze in our gardens and destroy our food crops. We have nowhere to report our grievances. We are attacked with machetes, shot at with arrows, and our houses are vandalized,” Jjumba said.
The farmers also accuse Ssembeguya of withholding their national identity cards, a claim echoed by another farmer, Fred Ssematta.
“When we ask for our identity cards, we are questioned about how we came to the farm in the first place,” Ssematta said.
Ssembeguya, however, dismissed the allegations.
“How can I withhold their identity cards when I want them to leave my land? The documents they are referring to are photocopies. If they need them, they can access them,” he said in a telephone interview.
He defended the use of bows and arrows by his workers, saying they are carried for self-defence due to alleged attacks by farmers.
“My workers carry bows and arrows for protection. I have even advised them not to carry them during the day. They have been attacked, and our crops and goats have been stolen. We have reported these cases to police, but little action has been taken,” Ssembeguya said.
The Police spokesperson for Greater Masaka, Twaha Kasirye, confirmed that investigations into the incident have commenced.
The disputed property measures approximately two square miles and was originally allocated to Ssembeguya for a goat breeding project. However, after the project stalled, he reportedly invited tenants from several districts including Rakai, Mubende, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Ibanda, Iganga, and Kamuli to cultivate the land under a share-cropping arrangement.
Relations between the parties deteriorated after farmers accused Ssembeguya of taking most of their produce and violating the terms under which they were allowed to use the land. The dispute has since triggered repeated calls for intervention by local leaders.
More than 400 farmers are currently believed to be living and cultivating on the farm. The matter has previously attracted the attention of security officials, including Brig. Gen. Paddy Jackson Kajoba of the Kasijjagirwa Armored Brigade, who reportedly visited the area and advised against admitting additional settlers until government resolves the conflict.
Police investigations are ongoing as authorities seek to establish the circumstances that led to the latest outbreak of violence.