Police, State House officials clash over Makindye land eviction

By Jeff Andrew Lule

State House has intervened and stopped eviction of land tenants in Katwe West Zone, Makindye Division in Kampala. 

The Private Secretary to the President on land matters, Mariam Namayanja, accompanied by other officials and the Kampala resident city commissioner, Alice Muwanguzi, halted the eviction by a city businesswoman, Mariam Sululu.

 Sululu, also a pastor, had fenced off over 200 households, claiming ownership of the land. She had, in addition, deployed guards to block residents from accessing their houses. 

Namayanja said President Yoweri Museveni had directed them to intervene and halt the eviction since Sululu had not consulted the bona fide occupants before evicting them. 

She explained that the residents had written to the President, seeking his intervention after they were blocked from accessing their houses.

An unidentified drunken Police constable was disarmed by State House officials when he attempted to shoot at residents as the removed the iron sheets. 

He was arrested and handed over to Katwe Police Station. The Kutawo Police Post chief, only identified as Ndyanabo argued that the eviction was in order since it was ordered by court. 
But Namayanja disputed the authenticity of the court order. Namayanja said they were going to hold a meeting with Sululu and the residents to reach a solution. 

Some residents took off with iron sheets and poles. The village chairman, Paddy Kiggundu disputed Sululu’s ownership of the land. 
He argued that Sululu’s parents only owned a house in the area by the time they shifted to Bombo.

Source: New Vision