MPIGI: Four people are in custody at Mpigi Police Station for alleged trespass. The four are among more than 80 families who could be kicked off a 20-acre piece of land in Kasuubo Village, Kayabwe Town Council, Mpigi District, because of a dispute.
They are Isaaya Kimbugwe alias Musese, a local council official; Isma Mujuzi, a member of the LC III court; Baker Musoke, a trader in Kayabwe; and Alex Mulinde. It is alleged that the suspects in custody since Friday last week were arrested on allegations of forgery and trespass, vide police file number 42/07/10/2022. The offenses were allegedly committed between 2017 and 2022.
Lydia Tumushabe, Katonga Regional Police Spokesperson, confirmed the arrest of the four people amid ongoing investigations. Without divulging into the matter, Tumushabe said that the accused persons were arrested from Kayabwe land for criminal trespass and forgery. One of the people living on the land in question, Hajati Aisha Nakirijja, questioned how the four were arrested.
Wilson Wanyama, the National Programmes director of Vision Investments, said the four were picked up following a complaint filed by Wilson Wanyama, the National Programmes director of Vision Investments, against the bibanja occupants. She says that the police were wrong to act without doing proper research and that the land in question belongs to a person named Pamma, whose children are now in charge.
Nakirijja says that Vision Investments Limited bought the land where Child Africa Uganda is now after another buyer, Edward Kigongo Nakabaale, backed out and said he didn’t want it.
Nakirijja asked the authorities to bring all the concerned parties to the table and carry out due diligence on the contested land to solve the crisis. She appealed to the authorities to establish whether a person can trespass on their bibanja where they have long established burial grounds. Lawrence September, who lives in Kasuubo, said that the people who were arrested for trespassing have lived in their bibanja for decades.
He said that Wanyama purchased the land, which was already encumbered with occupants, with documents stipulating how they acquired their respective bibanja. In September, I wondered how a person who has lived on a kibanja and established his residence can then be arrested for trespass.
According to September, three of the suspects are local council officials who have been demanding that Wanyama and his people follow the law in getting his interest in the land.
The chair of the Kayabwe Town Council LC III, Zeedi Kasule, has asked the Mpigi Resident District Commissioner—RDC to step in so that everyone gets fair treatment.
When asked about it, Wanyama said that the police were looking into it and that he couldn’t say more because he wasn’t allowed to talk to the media.
Hajati Aisha Nakirijja, the vice chairwoman of Mpigi District, was at the Mpigi Police Station with some bibanja holders from Kasuubo Village, where 4 people were arrested.