Exclusively speaking to this website, Dr Sam Mayanja the State Minister in charge of lands in the ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development has confirmed that Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba the Chief of Défense Forces (CDF) of the UPDF and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abas Byakagaba have intervened in the ongoing fight over land between Kayunga Catholic Parish and the management of Kayunga Referral Hospital.
The development resulted from a declaration by the church leadership of not allowing the expansion of the hospital claiming that the piece of land which the hospital is annexing is theirs and President Museveni’s government has to compensate them before allowing the construction works to kick off.
Last week, Catholic church leadership and their flock stopped the UPDF engineering brigade from building the hospital and declared that they are ready to die defending their land.
The matter was reported to their superiors at Lugazi Diocese and it will only be resolved after the government compensates them.
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However, Mayanja insisted that the contested land is owned by the hospital because according to documents, it was registered on the land title measuring 33 acres in 1965 and there is no possibility in law that the church can claim the said land.
He added that even the two acres that the church claims that they own are in the middle of the hospital land where they are planning to build the hospital theatre.
It is on this background that he maintains that there are land grabbers and mafias who are using the church leadership to benefit by putting government on pressure to compensate them with billions of money.
He accused Kayunga District National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairperson Moses Karangwa of inciting Catholics and church leadership to create controversy which will result in delaying the utilization of the loan that government secured from the World Bank to expand the hospital which will affect the sitting government.
“When I was in Kayunga, I asked Karangwa why he was inciting the public against a government project that is going to help the public by claiming that my instruction that construction works should proceed was going to bring bloodshed in the area. I wondered when he told me that my instructions are very costly to the NRM government, and that Catholics are going to vote against President Museveni’s government come 2026,” Mayanja said.
He added that at first, he was happy that he had convinced the church leadership to get in touch with Phiona Birungi the senior presidential assistant in charge of special duties to meet the president but he was surprised when he watched the news when Karangwa was in the church inciting Catholics not to allow construction to start until they have been compensated and that’s the reason they insulted the UPDF engineering brigade who were on the site to proceed with the construction.
He said that Mariam Nalubega the Kayunga Resident District Commissioner (RDC) informed him that even the District Police Commander (DPC) has declined to provide security to UPDF engineering brigade insisting that he only takes instructions from his boss the IGP not any other person including the minister.
“I personally made a phone call to the IGP to talk to the DPC and save the situation, the IGP told me that he was going to handle the matter and good enough he talked to DPC’s superiors and construction is going to proceed,” Mayanja said.
He added that Nalubega also reported to him that Gen Muhoozi has also intervened and directed that the UPDF engineering brigade be provided with security while they finish this government Project. But this website can authoritatively report that by Thursday this week the contested land was still under the hands of the Catholics and there was no construction going on.
Mayanja explained that the government wants to expand the hospital so that it can cater for the huge number of people who are referred to Kayunga for further medical attention from over 17 districts that is why it should be welcomed by the entire public.
