{UAH} Museveni has always plotted for Buganda land
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4:37 PM |
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One of the senior Baganda military officers who participated in the 1981-86 bush war that brought the current administration to power was called Magala Nkuba'ejja. He hailed from Ssingo county (Mubende).
To avoid disgruntlement, the National Resistance Army (NRA) never used formal military ranks for the whole duration of the war. But when formal ranks were introduced, I think in 1987, Magala Nkuba'ejja was given the rank of major. Unfortunately, he died shortly thereafter. He was a senior officer of the NRA at the same rank with the likes of Kizza Besigye, Amanya Mushega and Tom Butime.
People such as the late Aronda Nyakairima and, I think, Kale Kayihura started at the lower rank of captain. I am, therefore, speaking about a real historical, if I can borrow that much-abused word by veterans of the Luweero war.
If this guy had lived longer, probably he would now be helping young Ugandans appreciate Gen Yoweri Museveni's insatiable appetite for land, and Buganda land in particular. Those flocking Justice Catherine Bamugemereire's commission of inquiry on land matters would also think twice.
While trekking Ssingo with his fighters, Gen Museveni was shocked to learn that individuals owned miles and miles of land. "He asked who the owner of the land we are occupying was and we told him the name. After walking for hours, he again asked who owned the land where we are now and we told him it was the same person," a senior NRA officer told your columnist.
At this point, addressing "these colonial distortions on land" became one of the key reasons for the war. Magala Nkuba'ejja asked him whether addressing these distortions meant sharing Baganda's land. Museveni sensed the danger his statement was causing. His reply was that he, Museveni, concentrates on one battle at a time.
Magala was not satisfied. He mobilized senior Baganda fighters and told them of this story. Museveni learnt about this development and convened a similar meeting at which he claimed he had been misunderstood. He didn't want his statement on land to ignite tribal flames.
Museveni would resurrect the land issue during a meeting in Lubiri, Mengo, immediately after capturing power. The meeting in Lubiri, which was a military barracks at that time (1986), was to fine-tune the 10-point programme before it was presented to the public. Museveni wanted land to be point number eleven, but he was persuaded to drop it.
He attempted to fix it in the 1995 Constitution but, again, failed as there were many other things to stuff in. In fact, at City Square, which he renamed Constitution Square while inaugurating the new Constitution, Museveni said he was happy with the Constitution except for three reasons:
Reason number one was that he didn't want his army renamed Uganda People's Defense Forces. He had wanted it to remain National Resistance Army. Second point, he wanted government to have a final say on land matters, something akin to compulsory acquisition of land by the state.
The 1998 Land Act and the 2010 Land (Amendment) Act were all aimed at addressing "these historical distortions". One will also need to understand why he runs a land task force and a lands unit in his office. These are two separate entities.
Other than himself, Museveni doesn't want anyone else/institution to own land. He feels the entire land in this country must be vested in him so he can parcel it out and donate it the way he donated Shimoni, Nakawa, Naguru and Nsambya land.
That is why he is in the habit of inciting tenants against landowners. Any landowner that fails to appreciate this, no matter whether it is the church or traditional institutions, will be harvested.
My own Buganda kingdom needs to revise its notes. While Kyapa mu Ngalo is an innocent campaign, in fact one with real benefits, launching it at the same time with the Bamugemereire commission was a bad move. Look, issuing leases is something that happens every day by government, institutions and individuals.
My good friend Betty Amongi is sparing no effort in attacking Kyapa mu Ngalo which covers, I think, just about one per cent of the country's land. And it is optional.
Kabaka's official mailo land is 350 square miles. The whole of Buganda has about 15,000 square miles. A total of 8,000 square miles was given out by the 1900 Buganda Agreement. Another 9,000 square miles, commonly known as mailo akenda, remained for future generations.
This is supposed to be our communal land in Buganda, but district land boards have given it out to everybody, including the so-called balaalo (herders). In fact, for me, this is the unfinished debate. Why is Mengo allowing Museveni to make us debate 350 square miles legally owned by the Kabaka yet our land, the 9,000 square miles, has just been and continues to be shared?
An impression is always created that land distribution in Buganda was unfair, as it left out many people.
First, let us ask ourselves: which people are these fellows talking about? Uganda had a population of 2.5 million people in 1911. This information is on page eight of the recent population census report.
That means there were less than a million people in Buganda. In fact, most of the land in Buganda was vacant and one was free to settle anywhere. Baganda as a tribe are, according to the 2014 census, about 5.5 million people.
They could be more because this is 2017. Buganda, as a region, has more than seven million people. Do you need a commission of inquiry to know why there is pressure on land and, therefore, conflicts?
I have no doubt Bamugemereire's probe will make recommendations that will worsen land relations in Buganda. And that is the historical pursuit of our revolutionary leader.
The author is Kira Municipality MP and Opposition Chief Whip in parliament.
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