Government intervenes to save thousands threatened with eviction in Kikuube district.

The government is investigating nine fake land titles that were produced by Hoima land commission from the land meant for refugees.

The  Minister for Relief, disaster preparedness, and refugees Hillary Onek made the remarks during a meeting with local leaders in Kikuube district.

the meeting was convened on the directives of the prime minister following an ongoing protest by residents who camped at the office of the Resident District commissioner Amulan Tumusiime demanding to meet President Museveni.

Some individuals are claiming to have nine land titles for the disputed chunk of land at Bikinda and Cheeya in Kikuube that hosts more than 10,000  people.

The land was donated by Bunyonyo kingdom for refugee settlement at Kyangwali in the 1960s, out of which the government chopped 8 square miles to settle locals who were landless.

“Some people are claiming ownership of the land that government acquired land in 1960, however, we are investigating how these people acquired these fake land titles and we want to know who sold them government land,” Onek said.

Following a number of unverified claims of ownership, minister Hillary Onek assured the general public that all the land that the refugees are occupying is government land despite it being in different parts of the country.

Onek said land wrangles existed years back but were sorted halfway by the government and in 2015 government compensated the encroachers with money and food that could take them for three months and were told to go back to where they came from.

“Land wrangles in Kyangwali aren’t new and these land wrangles started long even when John Patrick Amama Mbabazi was still the Prime Minister,” Onek said.

He assures the general public that all the land that the refugees are occupying is government land despite it being in different parts of the country.

He says some politicians were supporting encroachers to stay on the land and even started ganging up against some government officials because they were protecting government land.

“We have acted with humility for long with these people even after compensating them and giving them food, they are now behaving like Internally Displaced People (IDPs),” the minister said.

The State Minister in Charge of Bunyoro Affairs Jennifer Namuyangu said Prime minister Robbinah Nabbanja visited the people of Bukinda and had a meeting with the local leaders and made some resolutions which included meeting the President over the land disputes in Kikuube.

She says due to COVID-19, the scheduled meeting was canceled but later they were ordered by the Prime Minister to interface with the leaders and also talk to the locals and encourage them to go back to where they came from.

Namuyangu explains that there are some emergencies that need to be handled, which include the construction of a school and health facility next to the community, providing clean and accessible water to the community.

She is also urged the local leaders to calm the people down and not panic and have hope in government because they will find a solution to it.

“Let’s not point fingers at one another because we are going to have a solution to the conflicts,” she added.