Rotary, Mukono Residents Bicker Over Land Ownership

The school with an enrollment of 350 pupils, seats on the upper part of the land owned by Rotarian Peter Kasedde and the teachers quarters on the lower part-owned by the Rotary club. The contested area is part of the 10 acres donated to Rotary in 1996, by the Late Rotarian George Kasedde Mukasa for the Club to implement a community service project.

The Club, upon receipt of the land and after securing land titles from the Kasedde family, opted to construct a new facility, The Rotary hospital Mukono which was started in 2014 under the leadership of Rotarian David Kasingwire.

But the hospital is now entangled in a conflict with the school which was started as a community initiative by the late Mukono North Member of Parliament Mambule Kiggundu who was then the sitting tenant on the contested land.  The school’s initial buildings were set up by community members who took pride in the project for offering to their children free education.

However, It was later taken over by the government. But the municipal authorities are still failing to secure a land title for the school, yet in its absence, they cannot undertake any renovations or further development of the facility. The residents blame the Rotary club for the stalled development, arguing that the teachers no longer have access to their quarters and that a Church that was initially hosted on the same land was blocked from operating.

Zam Kaliika, the chairperson of the School’s Parents Teachers’ Association-PTA says that they are disheartened to see that the activities of the Rotary Club are expanding into part of the land which is already occupied by the school. Kaliika says that the club has stopped them from refurbishing the dilapidated teachers quarters, on account that they are part of the 10 acres bequeathed by the Late George Kasedde Mukasa.

The schools’ Deputy Head Teacher Kedrace Tugumize says the school has missed out on four good teachers who were trekking long distances from home. He adds that the contestations on the land forced the landlord to stop them from utilizing the teacher’s quarters.

Ibrahim Kitenda, the village chairperson acknowledges that the community lacks funds to secure a joint title from the two landlords but pleads for a good co-existence and working condition with Rotary to continue benefiting the community.
Mukono Municipal Mayor George Fred Kagimu says that the municipal leadership is engaging the Rotary Club to secure the future of the school. He notes that far from the contestation surrounding the land, the school building is dilapidated and almost collapsing, yet it is very difficult to set up new developments without land titles.

The President Rotary Club of Kampala, Rotarian Sam Nsubuga says ever since they secured their boundaries on the land,  they directed the community leaders and the school management committees to avoid progressing developments without consent. But the request was ignored and a number of third parties have since settled on the same land.

Nsubuga says that the local leaders granted permission to one Abbey Buyinza to set up a Church on the land without informing the landlord.

“Rotary is always open to everyone who wishes to discuss with us, but for issues taking place at Ngandu, we agreed with leaders to ensure that all third party occupants vacate the land and then we agree on other projects that can help the community. First things first, we cannot risk seeing rotary properties disappearing just like that,” Nsubuga said