EDITOR
The Town Clerk of Mbarara City North Division, Mr. Prosper Tagobya, has revealed that the Division Council is in the process of nominating new area land committee members. He clarified that this is the mandate of the Division Executive Committee headed by the Division Mayor, and the nominations will later be approved by the Division Council.
Mr. Tagobya made the remarks following an incident where Mbarara City North Division councilors walked out of a council meeting held at Kakiika and rushed to Mbarara City Council to lodge a complaint, mistakenly believing that the term of the current land committee had expired.
However, the Mayor of Mbarara City North Division, Mr. Gumisiriza Katozi Buraziyo Kyabwisho, clarified that the current area land committee members were legally appointed by Mbarara City Council to serve a three-year term, which is set to expire on August 30, 2025. He urged councilors and the public not to worry.
Addressing concerns about suspected encroachment on government land, Mr. Tagobya emphasized that all government land is safe and intact, including land titles administered by the Mbarara City Town Clerk. He dismissed rumors suggesting otherwise.
He explained that a two-acre piece of land in Biharwe, near the former Biharwe Division headquarters, was officially allocated to the Uganda Police Force. This, he said, was a government-to-government transaction and not an act of land grabbing.
Tagobya also noted that another piece of land at the Mbarara City North Division headquarters in Kakiika was allocated to the Judiciary for development by the council. He clarified that the police currently occupying part of that land are considered squatters.
The Speaker of Mbarara City North Division Council, Mr. Mugisha Silver, explained that the councilors walked out of the council meeting which had been convened to approve the 2025/2026 budget. Instead of adopting the agenda, the councilors introduced unrelated issues, which were not on the order paper and thus not accepted.
Mayor Kyabwisho reiterated that all land under the division is intact and legally held under title deeds. He confirmed that the Judiciary was officially allocated one acre of land near Kakiika Government Prison, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs (under the Uganda Police) received two acres in Biharwe, along with temporary space near the division offices to construct uniports.
He dismissed all land-related allegations as baseless political propaganda and urged anyone with evidence of wrongdoing to report the matter to police, emphasizing that no one is above the law.
