Water and Environment Minister General Kahinda Otafiire has mounted a fresh defence of his claim to land at the disputed Njeru Stock Farm, accusing State Minister for Animal Industry Bright Rwamirama of presenting a selective account of the property’s ownership history.
Otafiire’s latest remarks, made on Thursday in a public statement, add a new dimension to a dispute that has pitted senior government officials against each other over the future of the more than 1,000-acre Njeru Stock Farm in Buikwe District.
The farm, managed by the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC&DB), is considered a strategic government livestock facility. Government agencies have maintained that parts of the land were irregularly allocated to private individuals over the years and that overlapping titles should be reviewed.
The dispute has since grown from a legal contest into a political confrontation involving Cabinet ministers, Parliament and the Presidency.
President Museveni has previously directed the Attorney General and the Ministry of Lands to investigate disputed titles on the land, while Rwamirama has led efforts to defend the stock farm.
Otafiire, however, has maintained that the land he owns was legally acquired from private estates and does not form part of the government facility.
Otafiire’s latest statement builds on an earlier post published on July 7 in which he rejected accusations that he had grabbed public land.
He said he purchased land on former Plots 3 and 4 in 2016 from administrators of the estates of the late Enoka Sebowa and Guster Seruwo, adding that several companies and individuals acquired land from the same administrators and have since developed their properties.
Last year, Rwamirama wrote to President Museveni insisting that the disputed land belonged to the government livestock facility, a position that differed from Otafiire’s claim that his property was acquired legally from private owners.
In his response to the President, Otafiire accused Rwamirama of presenting misleading information, saying his land was located on Block 295, Plots 280 and 283 Bukaya, formerly known as Plot 3 and Plot 4, and not on Plot 2 where he said the stock farm was situated.
“Your Excellency, it is clear from the said letter that you have been misled but also lied to about the facts of the said stock farm. The land I own and occupy is in Block 295, Plot 280 and 283 Bukaya, formerly Plot 3 and Plot 4. For the record, Njeru Stock Farm has no land and is illegally occupying Block 295, Plot 2,” Otafiire said in the letter.
In his latest statement, the minister shifted focus from defending his ownership to challenging what he described as a narrative advanced by Rwamirama and sections of the media.
“There is an African proverb that says, ‘When you are on a journey and encounter a barking dog, do not stop to engage it in a barking contest,’” Otafiire wrote at the beginning of his statement.
He accused a State daily journalist of abandoning objectivity in favour of Rwamirama’s position, arguing that reports on the matter had ignored facts he believes are central to understanding the dispute.
“I appreciate the old English saying that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune.’ Yet one would reasonably expect that the tune played should, at the very least, serve the interests of truth,” Otafiire said.
The Nile Post has contacted the reporter but did not get a defence against the accusation and has opted to leave out both the media and the reporter from this article.
Otafiire argued that public accounts of the stock farm’s boundaries have changed over time, saying earlier reports indicated that the facility covered Plots 2, 3, 4 and 5 before later referring to Plots 2, 3 and 4.
He said these changes failed to acknowledge what he described as the legal history surrounding the estate of the late Ham Mukasa and subsequent court proceedings that affected ownership of part of the land.
According to Otafiire, Plot 2 belonged to the late Ham Mukasa before passing to his daughter Barbara Lakeeri Nalubaale, whose beneficiaries included Sarah Namusisi and Ham Ssali.
He said that following Sarah Namusisi’s death, George Kasedde became trustee for Brenda Nanyondo, leading to arbitration proceedings between beneficiaries and Njeru Municipal Council over unpaid rent.
Otafiire said the arbitration, chaired by Sam Mayanja, cancelled the lease and ordered re-entry in favour of the landowners due to persistent failure to pay rent.
He added that after Brenda Nanyondo obtained Letters of Administration in 2023, she reached a consent judgment with Ham Ssali in 2025, paving the way for subdivision and sale of portions of the land to third parties.
The claims differ from the government’s position that Njeru Stock Farm remains public land and that several private titles affecting the property originated from irregular transactions.
Government agencies have maintained that fraudulent titles should be cancelled to protect the strategic livestock facility.
Otafiire also questioned what he described as inconsistencies in government’s handling of the land, citing a presidential directive issued after the commissioning of the Modern Tiles plant.
Museveni directed the Ministers of Agriculture, Lands and Justice on January 17, 2024, to allocate 450 acres of Njeru Stock Farm land to Modern Ventures Ltd for industrial expansion.
“If the land is genuinely being preserved as a stock farm, why is a substantial portion simultaneously being earmarked for private industrial development?” Otafiire asked.
The minister further cited a letter dated March 14, 2025, which he said Rwamirama wrote to President Museveni acknowledging that following an arbitral award and a subsequent High Court order of re-entry, the stock farm had lost its legal interest in the land due to non-payment of rent and no longer held a valid written lease with registered landowners.
Otafiire also referred to findings from a Ministry of Lands survey, saying it established that the stock farm occupied only about 190 acres on Plot 2, while other portions had long been allocated for residential and commercial developments.
He maintained that his land lies entirely on Plots 3 and 4, which he said have a separate ownership history.
“I, Maj. General (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, do not own any land on Plot 2. The 90 acres that I own are situated entirely on Plots 3 and 4, whose ownership history is legally distinct from that of Plot 2. None of the recognised owners of those plots have challenged either my ownership or my occupation,” he said.
Otafiire noted that several companies, including Modern Ventures Ltd and its related firms, as well as other individuals, own larger portions of land within Plots 3 and 4.
He questioned why his ownership had attracted greater public attention despite the presence of numerous other landowners in the area.
“The inevitable question therefore is this: Why are Hon. Bright Rwamirama and his associates presenting a selective version of the facts while concealing their own interests?” Otafiire asked.
He argued that court records and official survey reports should guide the debate instead of what he described as political rhetoric.
The Njeru Stock Farm dispute, which has played out in courts, Cabinet discussions and public exchanges, remains one of Uganda’s most contested battles over public land, with competing claims continuing to shape the debate over the future of the government livestock facility.
