The family of the late Blasio Bamuturaki of Kanungu district has appealed to President Museveni to intervene and save their land from suspected land grabbers including the local area leaders.
Christine Joy Tumusiime, a family member revealed that she was forced to run into exile in United Kingdom after establishing that her life was in danger over the 70.2 acres of land.
She accuses Jessica Tindimwebwa the at Ibarya Cell chairperson, Davis Asiimwe the Kihanda Sub County chairperson, Lemegio Tumwesigye, Ambrose Barigye of influencing the grabbing of her father’s estate.
She further accuses Hajj Shafik Sekandi the former Kanungu district Resident District Commissioner (RDC) and Amanyire Ambrose Mwesigye the current RDC and his deputy RDC Gad Rugajju of orchestrating and colluding with a section of family members and dealers to forcefully take over their mineral rich land.
More Read
It is alleged that the land in question at Ibarya Cell was previously owned by Mzee Blasio Bamuturaki and his wife Joy Evelyn Kyabasasaki who lived on it from the 1950s till their deaths in 1994 and 2004 respectively.
Family members claim that upon the death of Kyabasasaki, Hajji Sekandi hatched a plan and colluded with a family member, a one Anna Kyahamutima to kick other family members off the land.
It is alleged that before his transfer from Kanungu District, Sekandi was previously linked to land grabbing deals involving high profile officials in government, State House and in the Ministry of Water and Environment.
Sekandi, who has since been transferred to Kisoro District, was replaced by Mwesigye, who is now leading the struggle to dispossess the family of their interest in their estate.
Mwesige jointly with other district committee members are accused of organizing the ongoing destruction of the family property that includes a house and a plantation.
“The dispute that forced me to flee my mother land, started in 2004 after the death of our mother, my sister (Anna) took possession of the family property and took control. The RDC then did a report and it is from then that they started destroying the plantations on the land and bringing many people to cultivate on the land to defeat the interest of the rightful beneficiary,” she said
In 2023, Tumusiime fled the country and she is currently living in the United Kingdom for the safety of her life.
While recounting the mysterious deaths of her brothers and sisters on the land, Tumusiime, 56, also revealed that grabbers used her sister on the frontline to torture her and her relatives.
She alleges that RDC Mwesige and Sekandi vainly colluded to arrest her from Mbarara Administrator General’s office while using police and military.
She has now appealed to President Museveni to intervene and cause investigation into RDC Mwesigye and others with the grabbers who are using a motor vehicle with ICRP branding, a project funded by the World Bank.
“I believe the World Bank cannot fund such a project marred with irregularities and violations,” she added when accusing Police in Kanungu of declining to register a case of malicious damage to property that was reported by her aide.
She added that, “As I speak, RDC Mwesigye and his deputy Rugajju are making business on our land through charcoal burning, destroying the house and sadly when I contacted the police for help, they just kept quiet. I am humbly appealing to the President to intervene in this matter to rescue me from these notorious criminals pretending to work for the government.”
Tumusiime alleges that in December 2023, RDC Mwesigye and policeman Zaviour Nishaba together with Constable Daniel Byensi led a group of people that stole livestock and poultry on top of arresting and imprisoning her workers.
She is also accusing her sister of destroying the graveyards of their siblings. Tumusiime states that the cartel advised her sister Kyahamutima to open up multiple frivolous criminal cases against her to frustrate her effort to acquire letters of administration on the land.
According to Tumusiime, the criminal gang also fronted Rachael Tushabe, a police lady who is a daughter to her sister to torment her with the numerous fake case files which prompted her February 2023 petition to security agencies but without any help.
She further revealed that she lodged a caveat on the land in dispute in 2021 after her sister declined to attend meetings with the authorities.
“I suffered under the hands of the RDC, deputy RDC Rugajju and the Police because they organized arrests and tortured me so that I could lose interest but this is our ancestral land and all I appeal for is justice,” Tumusiime states adding that whatever is being done on their land must follow the law.
In May 2023, Tumusiime petitioned the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) complaining against the fake accusations brought against her to defeat her interest in the ancestral land.
In February 2023, she also petitioned the Commandant of Flying Squad Unit seeking for intervention to track and trace a one Lt Simon from UPDF and policeman Walter Okello among others and bring them to book for attempting to kidnap her and issue threats to her life.
In phone conversation with Ono Bwino, RDC Mwesigye laughed off the allegations and advised this publication to go to the ground to do verification of the claims.
“But I think she (Tumusiime) is a very dishonest person because she came to my office in 2023 alleging that her sister, Kyahamutima was chasing her from land. I went there and I found that they had a conflict on their late father’s land yet they did not have a title for it. It was with their brother,” he said.
While denying involvement in the dispute, Mwesigye said that he held meetings on ground in their presence and advised them to go to the administrator general’s office
According to Mwesigye, putting the land conflict aside, there is a government irrigation project where peoples’ land was valued under the Ministry of Water to construct a dam.
He divulged that a number of families affected were consulted in 2022 and their land was valued in 2023. The valuation reports were shared with them in 2023 including that Tumusiime and they consented and their family was paid Shs1 billion which they shared.
“Now the houses that have been demolished are those which are supposed to be removed for the project to begin and that woman was paid duly,” he added.
Mwesigye revealed: “They were paid on December 19, 2024 and they were supposed to leave immediately. We said since the project still has some time to start, let them still be enjoying their gardens and crops. However, some months back, we went to the place allocated for the project and the ministry people went and told everybody whose property had been paid for to leave. The other people left voluntarily.”
According to Mwesigye, Christine’s sister has a house there but she (Christine) does not. They also have an old ancestral house plus graveyards which were all affected but they were compensated and now the two sisters are not there but they left a daughter called Allen who kept in the house. We went there and told her to leave because the project is supposed to begin.”
Mwesigye said that they held community meetings with all the affected families and told them to vacate because it is now the property of the government of Uganda.
“Being government land now, because everything is documented, the Ministry of Water people went and requested for security to demolish the house on the land so that they take over and begin work genuinely. Money was paid to all those people’s accounts and valuation reports were shared and all documents are available with correspondences,” said Mwesigye adding that he can stand to defend it.
When contacted, Rugajju denied any involvement saying he did not handle anything related to land in Kihanda.
“For me, my issue is mainly Kihihi and borderline and my concentration and task is on security matters to do with national parks, then border. That is where I am involved. I am very certain that it is a case of mistaken identity,” he said.
