By Andrew Irumba
Kampala-State Minister for lands and Bukono County MP Persis Namuganza has rubbished Justice Catherine Bamugemereire led Land Commission of Inquiry and termed it as useless, toothless and emotional!
The minister was appearing before the commission on Tuesday at the archives Centre in Wandegeya over a disputed piece of land in Mubende District in which she was involved as a line minister.
The three square mile land in question is located in Butoroogo and Madudu sub-counties in Mubende.
Last year, President Yoweri Museveni tasked minister Namuganza to go and camp in the area on a fact-finding mission over the wrangles pertaining that piece of land in the area and was to report directly to H.E.
It is alleged that the minister in collusion with her counterpart, Benny Namugwanya Bugembe (State minister for Kampala) who is also the Woman MP for Mubende District, mobilised and led claimants of the land to State House and met President Museveni who in turn ordered the owners of the land to be compensated by the State.
Appearing before Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, Namuganza was tasked to unveil her findings as well as explain her role in leading claimants to State House.
However, in response Namuganza told commission members that she was not answerable to them since the president himself asked her to carry out the investigation and gave her directions on how to handle it.
“The President instructed me and the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kale Kayihura knowing that the commission of inquiry is there. I took assignment from the President under the law,” she said.
The minister also denied allegations that she connived with a one Milly Naava to evict 350 families in Mubende district.
Instead, Namuganza accused the commission of fighting private wars instead of doing their work.
“They are fighting personal wars. They have no issues. They are just useless. Their emotions won’t help Uganda,” Namuganza said as she walked out of the commission.
She added, “I want to go on record, that committee is only eating tax payers’ money. That committee should be disbanded and members sent home to sleep”.
Namuganza said that since its inception,the commissioner has never released any conclusive findings nor have they ever effected any of their suggested remedies to the land problems they were sent out to investigate but are rather just eating tax payers’ money.
“So what have they ever implemented on the problems they found out? They are just wasting money, can you imagine me as a minister I get just UGX 3m per month, that included my fuel and everything, but the justice gets over UGX 25m per month! They even don’t facilitate my field staff that they keep holed up here in their commission,” said Namuganza.
