The government of Uganda has stopped the eviction of musician turned politician Bobi Wine from his Kamwokya land.
Bobi Wine real name Robert Kyagulanyi and 400 others are facing a possible eviction after an investor bought the land.
The land in question sits on 26 acres shared among three zones, Old Kira Road zone, Kisenyi zone and Mulimira zone which partly fall in Nakawa Division and Kampala Central Division.
According to Daily Monitor newspaper, the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) Director General, Col Kaka Bagyenda said on Sunday that it was not acceptable for someone to evict masses of people in a way that is not clear.
“People should not be evicted. That is not acceptable especially when it is fraudulent like that. We shall work as government to protect the many people who stay on this land,” Col Kaka told the local daily.
In March this year, after a meeting with the landlord David Ssenfuka, the ISO boss intervened in the saga saying the matter had become political where some MPs were peddling threats to the land owners without following the law.
Sources that attended the meeting in March revealed that over the weekend government asked Ssenfuka to halt the intended sale of the land until after 2021 elections because the controversy could swing a sympathy vote in favour of Bobi Wine who early this year pronounced his intention to stand for president.
“They first told David to leave this matter till after 2021 but he refused. Now government has started calling him a fraud,” the source said.
Col Kaka denied the allegation that government was only intervening for fear of political backlash. He said government is fighting for the common people.
On August 12, Ssenfuka agreed to sell the land to a Gabonese businessman, Ulrich Anass Bongo Ngoyi, at Dirhams 55.2m (about Shs55b) with the first installment of Dirhams 27.6m (about Shs27.5b) to be paid by cheque.
However, Ssenfuka said the cheque was rejected when he presented it to the bank because the purchaser had blocked the cheque pending conclusion of the ongoing dispute on the land.
“This land is mine and I bought it in 2013. If government wants to save this land, they should come in and pay for it on behalf of the people. I am a businessman, since this transaction was stopped, I am incurring many losses,” Ssenfuka said.
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