Hon Milly Babirye Babalanda, the Minister for Presidency has directed Resident District/City Commissioners not to let land grabbing continue in their areas of jurisdiction.
The Minister directed the RDCs/RCCs to make sure cases of land grabbing are investigated to the dot and directly reported to the Principal Judge or the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) or the Minister for Lands to brief them of what is happening on the ground such that remedies are got.
The Minister made the remarks Tuesday afternoon while closing a 2-day capacity building workshop for RDCs/RCCs, Deputies and DISO from Busoga subregion at the Source of the Nile Hotel in Jinja city.
“Don’t sleep on job as people’s land is being grabbed. No one should intimate you. You have full manadate,” said the minister.
The Minister decried the rampant and violent land grabbing in Busoga, more so in Jinja city which have resulted in loss of lives.
She said land grabbing was being fueled by the corrupt district officials who take illegal actions based on bribe from the rich land grabbers.
The Minister asked RDCs/RCCs to keep a widely openned eye on the actions of Officials of their District Land Board and Area Land Committee Members who were taking advantage of the ignorance and weakness of villagers to grab and title their land.
Hon Babalanda said had information that that the Land Board in Jinja was renewing leases for the Custodian Board properties using forged documents and putting new titles on existing titles.
The Minister said the RDCs should not all such illegal and acceptable actions to continue.
She said, on some instances, the land grabbers use government agencies especially courts by compromising some officials to evict the victims.
The minister reminded the commissioners of the February 28, 2022 presidential directive that bars evictions and asked them to ensure its implementation.
The Minister said that the Senior Presidential Advisor on corruption and Head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Gen. Henry Isoke is already aware of these cases and would soon storm the subregion to back up the commissioners.
She also reminded RDC about their duty of fighting corruption in their districts
“My office has received several reports of corruption among civil servants, its your role to reign in and arrest those corrupt officials, including contractors who abandon government projects after receiving payment”. The Minister said
Babalanda added that she has information that many PDM beneficiaries have not yet received their money due to bureaucracy and corruption tendencies hence she promised that she will be camping in Busoga sub region starting 19th of June to 22nd to ensure that all PDM beneficiaries receive their money before the financial year ends.
The Minister told RDCs that the President shall be coming to Busoga soon to sensitize the people vacating wetlands providing alternatives about sustainable wetland use.
