The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Hoima, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Sam Mayanja, the Lands State Minister, has intervened in a land dispute affecting over 20,000 residents in Kabaale Sub-county, Hoima District, who are facing the threat of forceful eviction from their ancestral land. The affected residents hail from the five villages of Ngemwa, Nyakasinini, Kigaaga B, Nzorobi, and Nkwaki, all located in Nzorobi Parish. The land in question, measuring approximately 10 square miles, borders the Bugoma Forest Reserve.
The community, which has lived in the area since the 1940s, claims that on January 15, 2025, officials from the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom arrived with surveyors and attempted to survey the land without the residents’ consent. Alarmed, the locals petitioned various government offices, including the Ministry of Lands, seeking intervention to halt any possible eviction.
In an April 28, 2025, letter, addressed to Hoima Resident District Commissioner Rogers Mbabazi, Minister Mayanja confirmed his scheduled visit to the area. “My office received a petition from the LC3 Chairperson of Kabaale Sub-county reporting that some officials from the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom were threatening to evict locals from land they have occupied for decades,” the letter reads.
“Following the petition, I have decided to urgently visit the area on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at midday to interact with the community and explore solutions to protect them from illegal eviction. These residents enjoy lawful occupancy rights over their land.”
Nathan Aheebwa, the Nzorobi Parish Councilor, said residents are now living in fear following the alleged survey activity. Onesmus Oyirwoth, the Defense Secretary of Nzorobi Village, called on the Ministry of Lands to halt any ongoing land-related activities by the Kingdom officials.
However, when contacted in January, Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom Prime Minister Andrew Byakutaga dismissed the residents’ claims, explaining that the Kingdom was merely inspecting its land adjacent to Bugoma Forest and had no intention of evicting any residents.
“The Kingdom does not claim ownership of the land currently settled by these residents,” Byakutaga stated. “Our officials were conducting a routine inspection of the Kingdom’s land.” Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom owns vast land near the Bugoma Central Forest Reserve in both Kikuube and Hoima districts.
However, the Kingdom has long faced criticism over its involvement in activities perceived as threatening the forest’s integrity.
One prominent case involves the Kingdom’s 99-year lease of about 22 square miles to Hoima Sugar Limited for sugarcane farming. A subsequent review by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) found that 13 square miles of the leased land were part of a wetland and forest reserve and, therefore, unsuitable for cultivation.
NEMA permitted Hoima Sugar to grow sugarcane on only 9.24 square miles of grassland. It further allowed the establishment of an urban centre (1.26 sq mi), an eco-tourism centre (1.97 sq mi), and the restoration of 3.13 sq mi of forest. An additional 6.17 sq mi were earmarked for natural forest conservation, and 0.156 hectares were reserved for a cultural site. Despite the controversy, the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom maintains that the leased land lies outside the forest reserve and constitutes part of its ancestral territory adjacent to Bugoma.
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