More than 100 families in Wakiso district are threatening a revolt against a member of the Buganda royal family accusing her of taking large chunks of their land in what they claim were unfair and dubious deals they were forced to enter into.

Residents of Kata village in Nnangabo Sub County in Wakiso have accused Princess (Nnaalinya) Namutebi Namikka of trickery when she made hundreds of bibanja tenants sitting on her one square mile piece of land to surrender part of it in exchange for land titles.
 
In what appears to be a turn-around move, some of the tenants now say they are not ready to vacate the land even though they have already surrendered it.

The Sunrise has learnt that tensions has risen in the village following orders that were issued by Nnaalinya's agents recently asking residents to give way for Nnaalinya's development projects to start. All tenants on the land signed the agreements with Nnaalinya.

In an effort to diffuse the growing tension, politicians including Wakiso RDC Suleiman Sserunjogi and the area Member of Parliament Rose Ssenninde, last week convened an impromptu meeting during which angry residents expressed distress over the demands that were issued to them to vacate the land. They demanded to see Nnalinya Namikka herself.

Titles not delivered
While some residents were discontented by the fact that they received much less land compared to what they originally owned, others said they could not give way for graders to start work before Namikka had issued them titles.

Juvenali Muwonge, one of the affected tenants told The Sunrise that out of the 7 acres of his Kibanja which he bought 50 years ago, he was given just 2 acres which he says is insufficient to facilitate growing of food and other economic activities to support his family.  

Muwonge said: "We don't want to lose our land like that. We were only coerced to put our signatures to those agreements just because we had no other option." He added: "While we have always been willing to pay Busuulu (ground rent) to our land lord according to the new land laws, she has never come out to tell us that she wants us to pay it."

Richard Lukwago, another resident says that he was told to uproot his cassava from the 2-acre plantation before it was ready for harvest.

"I had planned the plantation to help me with my children's school fees but all that hope was lost the day I was told to uproot it prematurely!" Lukwago sorrowfully said. 

The system where tenants agree to surrender pieces of their bibanja (plots) to land lords in exchange for titles has gained currency in recent years. Its advocates say it is the best way through which land lords are able to get back part ownership over their land without completely displacing the tenant who in return gets permanent status with a title.

Many landed people including Prof. Apollo Nsibambi have used the same arrangement with their tenants to get back ownership on part of their land. However, the amount of land a tenant finally gets usually depends on his/her negotiation skills.

But the apparent sudden change of heart among the residents of Kata village appears to have been inspired by politics. In an interview with The Sunrise MP Rose Ssenninde, categorically asserted her readiness to fight for the many tenants.

Taking into consideration the fact that this is a political season, it is not surprising to hear the MP side with the tenants, even though they willingly agreed with Namikka in the first place.

Ssenninde told The Sunrise she was optimistic her voters would not be forced off the land as a result of the bad deals they signed. She said. "Many residents contacted me complaining that they were threatened and coerced into signing the agreements. But anything can still be reversed."

Ssenninde also challenged Nnaalinya's representative one Drake Busuulwa, who she said lacked authenticity to force people to sign questionable documents.

When The Sunrise contacted Busuulwa he said that if residents do not want to surrender the land, they should compensate the land lord rather than shying away from what he called their obligation.

"Whichever Kibanja owner who thinks we unfairly treated him/her can either go to court or pay us the market value of that land and we get out of the deal," Busuulwa said.
In response to complaints that some residents got a raw deal because they received much less land than they originally owned, Busuulwa's arrogant tone indicated that the land lord was doing tenants a favour by giving them some land.

Busuulwa claimed that since most residents willingly signed the agreements, he considers it a done deal. He blamed a few residents for fanning the flames of rebellion among tenants.But residents anticipate that a meeting scheduled for August 2, expected to be attended by the minister of Lands Omara Atubo, will help reverse the agreements in their favour.
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