UGANDA

THEMATIC ISSUES
It was further argued that the rich elite make use of their ties to Government to grab
land with impunity. In Buganda, it was said people close to the Kabaka (for example the
‘Bambejja’, his female relatives) enjoy historical privilege in land ownership. This can be
traced back to the Buganda Agreement, in which the King’s power to give land to those
he chooses is enshrined.
These unfair practices of land distribution are said by participants to have resulted in
a divide between landlords and ‘landless’ or ‘tenants’ (‘Bakopi’) (also referred to as
‘squatters’), that persists to date, and to have laid the basis for widespread evictions
and land conflicts. In order to sell the land to rich investors in Nakasongola, for example,
absentee landlords reportedly evict the so called ‘squatters’ from their land, even though
these people may have lived on the land for generations.
Conflicts between landlords and squatters often break into violent confrontation in
different parts of Buganda, and Government was blamed for not protecting people
against such kinds of evictions. In Mukono, it was said that rich people from Kampala
use middle-men to purchase small pieces of land for them. They later claim to have
bought a larger piece, and use their money and power to assert their claim. This practice
has led to the even further impoverishment of a number of poor people in the district.
In Mubende, evictions of the poor by the rich led to violent acts of retribution by
the evictees, who resorted to damaging and burning rich people’s farms, even killing
landlords in some cases. It was said that the rich, especially if they are pro-Government,
are not held accountable.
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