Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has defended its decision to acquire a 230-acre piece of land in the Buto-Buvuma Central Forest Reserve for a landfill, brushing aside objections from the National Forestry Authority (NFA).
KCCA spokesperson Daniel Nuw’abine said the city authority conducted due diligence before purchasing the land from three individuals.
“If NFA had any issues with the proprietors of that land, it was settled by the court,” Nuw’abine stated.
He adds that a court ruling affirmed the ownership of the land by the current proprietors, not NFA.
However, he declined to disclose the identities of the sellers or the price of the transaction.
But the NFA isn’t backing down. The Authority’s Acting Executive Director, Stuart Maniraguha, has labeled KCCA’s move illegal, claiming the land is part of a protected forest reserve and accusing KCCA of obtaining it under dubious circumstances.
“There is no way the government can buy its land, and if there is anyone claiming to own that land, that should not be accepted,” Maniraguha said.
He further notes: “We are fully aware most of the land titles in this forest were illegally created. We have asked the Ministry of Lands to cancel them because all the demarcations and boundaries are very clear.”
Maniraguha revealed that NFA has previously engaged with KCCA to prevent attempts to acquire forest reserve land through fraudulent means.
“You know some…doing with KCCA,” he said, stopping short of divulging further details.
He emphasized that NFA is determined to conserve the Buto-Buvuma forest and warned that any licensed tree farmers found colluding with KCCA would face prosecution.
“The efforts to conserve this forest are still on, and we are going to ensure that its integrity is not compromised at any moment,” he stressed.
Last year, NFA uncovered 703 illegal land titles in various forest reserves, including Wakiso, Kayunga, and Kampala. Of these, 438 were confirmed to lie within protected areas.
