A long-running land dispute in Kiryandongo district has culminated in a heated legal battle in the High Court between competing groups claiming ownership of the contested land.
The decades-old controversy originated from competing land titles issued over the same 1,600 hectare piece of land in Bweyale sub-county. One title was issued to a private investor in 2006 who intended to use the land for sugarcane growing.
However, locals living near the land dispute this private title, arguing they were never consulted over the allocation. They claim the land rightfully belongs to the community under customary tenure. The dispute escalated over time with harassment complaints from both parties against the other.
Meanwhile attempts at an out of court settlement collapsed after each side accused the other of acting in bad faith. This led to the filing of a suit in the High Court challenging the validity of the private title.
During hearings, opposing panels of lawyers vigorously argued the case for their clients, presenting different interpretations of land laws and facts surrounding the attributed titles.
A judgment is now pending from the High Court to finally determine who the rightful owners are. However, either side may still appeal depending on the ruling. After years of back and forth, a conclusive legal resolution is being sought but tensions remain high.
The protracted dispute exemplifies uncertainties still surrounding land issues as competing claims sometimes emerge over the same pieces of land from historical customary residents and investors with formal title documents.