The Lands Minister, Judith Nabakooba, has vowed to present to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the issue of more than 9,000 locals of Kasambya sub-county who are staying on Mubende Central Forest Reserve land.

The revelation comes after locals of Kasambya sub-county cried out to the minister for living in fear of eviction by the National Forestry Authority (NFA) for encroaching on Muyinayina Central Forest Reserve. The said reserve sits on 1,067 hectares.

“We are now going to fight hard and ensure this land is degazetted to allow you to settle peacefully on the land because you had developed it and there is nowhere you can go if NFA proceeds with the eviction,” Nabakooba told the affected families.

She remarked this during the Bagagga Kwagalana Group meeting held at Katungulu village, Mayinayina parish, Kasambya sub-county in Mubende district on November 9, 2024, from where one of the group members was awarded UGX 30 million from their group savings.

Nabakooba praised the group for the saving culture and urged the rest of Ugandans to pick a leaf from this group, expressing the potential of such groups to elevate the living standards of the locals.

“Embrace saving culture if you can, because at the end of the day, you will receive back your money in a significant amount and you will be able to invest it in something productive,” she stressed.

Bagagga Kwagalana Group has 30 members, with each member saving UGX,050,000. Every month, one member chosen receives UGX 30 million. In addition, all the members are encouraged to contribute some extra money, which is given to the members to boost their businesses.

William Tumwizera, the chairperson of Bagagga Kwagala, told the minister that they started up this group three years ago with the intention of improving their living standards. He revealed that they have UGX 30 million in savings, which is kept in the Treasury for members to lend in case they need it.

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He, however, expressed his disappointment to the minister over threats of eviction on their land, which is confined within the forest reserve, noting that most of the members had made investments on it, and evicting them would leave them in poverty.

“We are 9,000 people staying on this land, and that number is for only adults, minus the young children. Our investments are all on this same land. We appeal for the government’s intervention to save these families,” Tumwizera said.

Tumwizera added that Kasambya alone are full supporters of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and it would be a disgrace to leave them displaced if the National Forestry Authority goes on with their early plans of evicting the people on Mayinayina Forest Reserve.

In 2018, the government, represented by the then State Minister for Environment, Dr. Mary Goreti Kitutu, halted the eviction of locals from three Mubende forests by the NFA. The minister directed the forestry body to embark on the degazetting process of these forests. These are Kasolo Forest Reserve in Kigando Sub County (3,244 hectares), Lusiba Forest Reserve in Nabingoola sub-county (670), and Muyinayina Forest Reserve.