Mukono church land row escalates, minister Nabakooba intervenes

The row between the Church and Christians in different parishes of Mukono Diocese has escalated. The church accuses Christians of illegally occupying its land and trying to develop it. The land under contention measures over 230 acres.

Mukono Diocese Bishop James William Ssebaggala accuses the people who illegally acquired plots on church land, of turning against the clergy and threatening to harm them.

“Many clergy have been assaulted by the bibanja holders on church land,” the bishop said.

Ssebaggala was on Friday addressing the lands minister, Judith Nabakooba, who intervened in the dispute between Kisowera Parish and residents of Kisowera and Muduuma-Lukojjo villages in Nama sub-county, Mukono district.

The Mukono Diocese land and estates co-ordinator, the Rev. Godfrey Sono, told Nabakooba how residents almost lynched the Rev. Samuel Mikka Lukwago, the Kisowera parish priest, when he tried to stop them from taking over church land. The land in Kisowera measures over 10 acres.

“Two weeks ago, the residents surrounded the Rev. Mikka and other church leaders with sticks and pangas as they inspected church projects on the land. The Rev. Mikka was rescued by the Police, which responded to his call in time,” Sono said.

He added that the rowdy residents then turned their anger on over an acre of cassava plantation and harvested it.

The residents, however, said the cassava they harvested was theirs, adding that the Rev. Mikka took over their land claiming it belonged to the church.

Nabakooba was in the company of the resident district commissioner (RDC), Fatuma Ndisaba, deputy RDC Richard Bwabye Ntulume, Mukono North MP Abdallah Kiwanuka and other local leaders.

Ndisaba said her office had received complaints over the land from the residents and the church.

“I met the bishop and his delegation and they told me their side of the story. I asked them to share with me a photocopy of their land title, but to date, they have not done so,” she said.

Ndisaba added that the residents accuse the church of not recognising the sons and grandsons of the people who owned plots on their land.

Lameck Kamya, the Lukojjo village chairperson, said the misunderstandings on the land stem from the church’s poor handling of the dispute.

“The Church does not want to receive ground rent (busuulu) from the tenants.

Even those who requested for leases and those who went on to pay for the service after reaching an agreement with the church leaders have not yet been addressed. It is now six years down the road,” Kamya said during the meeting that Nabakooba held at Kisowera Church of Uganda.

Vicent Nzaaza, one of the residents, said the church stopped him from selling his land and forcibly took a chunk.

“Even when I fall sick, I am not allowed to sell or give my son a plot to build a house. Unfortunately, the part they took from me was sold to someone else, who constructed a house,” Nzaaza said.

The residents also alleged that the church bars them from burying their loved ones on the land and that it also wants to take some of the land from bibanja owners and leave them with small pieces. They said this is done without giving them formal documentation.

Bishop Ssebaggala, however, asked the residents to stop personalising the land matters, tainting the parish priest’s name with false allegations and threatening his life.

“The land belongs to the church. Therefore, whether the Rev. Mikka, who is the parish priest, is transferred to another parish and replaced with someone else, his successor will also take you on if the matter is not sorted,” he warned.

The bishop added that the church acknowledges some people as rightful holders of plots on its land, but others occupied it illegally.

Kiwanuka asked the tenants to respect the church as their landlord and stop attacking the clergy.

“Destroying church property, and assaulting the clergy will only get you arrested. Be calm as we intervene for your own good,” he said.

Nabakooba asked the district Police commander, Ismail Kifudde, to ensure security on the land and stop further illegal developments until the dispute is resolved.

“I am ordering all those who have been building to stop, but they can continue cultivating food. Those activities will resume after the dispute has been settled, which I believe is not going to take so long,” she said.

Nabakooba asked the residents to select a few members to act as their representatives as the e matter is resolved.