Elders and local leaders in Kiruhura District have appealed to President Museveni to immediately intervene in a longstanding land wrangle involving two prominent families in Omukagyeera and Kimomo villages in Kikatsi Sub-county.
The contested land measures 640 acres and has been the subject of conflict over ownership between the families of the late Christopher Kajundira and Bishop Ernest Shalita.
The longstanding conflict has seen some family members lose their lives while others have sustained grave injuries.
This 640-acre land located in Kimomo and Omukagyeera villages has been in conflict for over 50 years.
These conflicts started way back in the late 1960s when the now-late Bishop Ernest Shalita began fighting with the late Christopher Kajundira over boundaries.
Bunanukye Keith, 90 years old, a resident of Kitaabo village in Kashongi Sub County, Kiruhura District, was a court clerk under the Ankole Kingdom at the time and was part of the group that allocated the land for settlement to both the late Kajundira and Bishop Shalita.
"We allocated land first to Kajundira in 1965, but after two years, Bishop Shalita was also given land in the neighborhood, and I was part of the process, so I know this land very well," said Bunanukye Keith, then court clerk and witness.
On a fateful night in 1999, terror befell the family of the late Kajundira when four of his family members, including a pregnant wife of Kajundira’s son, were brutally killed while others escaped with life-threatening injuries.
"I was then 2 years old. As I grew up, my father told me that people attacked us at night and killed my mother. They also cut my right arm, as you can see," ranted Brian Abaho, a victim.
After this terror attack, the Kajundira family ran away and sought asylum in Rwamwanja Refugee Camp in Kamwenge District. Years later, some family members returned to settle on their land, only to find it occupied by Isaac Ndahiro, a Rwandese national.
Police, led by the then IGP Kale Kayihura, had to deploy heavily on the land to prevent possible skirmishes between the two conflicting parties.
Later, IGP Kayihura and the Bamugemereire-led commission investigated the land conflict, but leaders say no solution has ever been produced.
"We are surprised, I can tell you. Kale Kayihura, then IGP, and Catherine Bamugemereire all came and visited the conflicted land. We also told them the whole story as people who know the genesis of this conflict, but even up to now, we have never seen any of their responses," Bunanukye further noted.
However, Isaac Ndahiro, who had allegedly grabbed the Kajundira land while they were in the Rwamwanja Refugee Camp, was arrested but later released, and the case was allegedly discontinued by the DPP.
While the family of the late Kajundira managed to come back and settle on their land, they claim to be receiving threats from unknown and known people, including a city lawyer, Joseph Matsiko of Kampala Associated Advocates.
"This lawyer (Matsiko) is the one fueling all these conflicts and threats. He’s related to the Shalita family and considers himself untouchable," said John Katama, LCII Chairman, Kayonza village.
Elders and district leaders are now appealing to President Museveni to intervene in this matter before the 1999 terror attack reoccurs.
"There are some people who went and deceived the President about this land. We request him to come to the ground and intervene in this issue. We fear, with these endless threats, the 1999 attack could happen again," Katama added.
It is reported that the late Kajundira was first allocated this land in Omukagyeera in 1965 by then Ankole Kingdom Gomborora chiefs, and after two years, the late Bishop Shalita was also allocated another piece of land in the neighborhood by then Kingdom Prime Minister Zakaria Mungoonya.
The duo later developed a boundary conflict, which is the origin of the ongoing land wrangles.