Residents of Katongole village in Rushere Town Council, Kiruhura District, are up in arms against Dr. Warren Namara, a senior official in the Office of the President, whom they accuse of trying to grab their land.
At the centre of the dispute is 94-year-old Villot Kamwerere and her grandchildren, who claim Dr. Namara is attempting to evict them from over 300 acres of land they have lived on for decades.
The family says their troubles date back to 2009, when they first raised concerns about their land but never received a lasting solution. They are now calling on President Yoweri Museveni to personally intervene in the matter before they are thrown off their land.
“We want the President to look into our issue again because what was raised in 2009 was never handled, and now Dr. Namara is threatening to chase us,” one of the family members said.
According to Kamwerere, when her husband died in the 1990’s part of her land close to 300 acres, tea and some cattle were confiscated from her by Dr. Namara. The family also accused lawyer, Florence Kiconco who has handed the case to by the President of being compromised.
They say that the 2009 resolution which included being compensated has never been fulfilled. On the other hand, Dr. Warren Namara in a phone interview with NBS TV denied the allegations.
“I have no plans to evict those fellows and I don’t even have the power to do so. So I don’t know where they’re getting those statements they’re making,” he said.
Kiconco also in a phone call with NBS acknowledged the agreement being made. She however cited the delay in fulfillment of the pledges to lack of enough resources as well as a lot of bureaucratic processes 16 years after after the presidential directive.
The dispute has once again highlighted the persistent problem of land wrangles in Uganda, especially in western regions where land is increasingly under pressure from wealthy and well-connected individuals.
