Kasangwawo Even if you are right about the land, but this is 2004 and not 1300. So a whole lot of things in Uganda have changed, the only problem is that Buganda kingdom still think it is leaving in 1300. And that is what many Ugandans are trying to explain very hard to Mengo.
Secondly can you kindly tell us where that 9000 miles of land is located? Em Toronto The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" ----- Original Message ----- From: "jonah kasangwawo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 8:02 AM Subject: RE: [Ugnet] The concept of Federo: A case study - Monitor -October17-23, 2004 > In "The concept of Federo : A case study" Kajabago-ka-Rusoke talks about > everything else - colonisation, land, et cetera - except about federo. Even > then, his understanding of mailo land and its origin leaves a lot to be > desired. He thinks that the Kabaka and his chiefs didn't own land until some > Europeans arrived and dished out some as a gift. Nothing can be further from > the truth. Even before the arrival of the colonialists, the Kabaka was > (infact he still is) the largest landowner in what is now known as Uganda, > in that he held in trust most of the land in Buganda. What the 1900 > Agreement did was to reorganize the distribution of land in Buganda. The > colonial authority awarded itself 10550 sq. miles (1500 forests, 9000 > uncultivated land and 50 for govt. stations); 350 sq. miles went to the > Kabaka; 8000 sq. miles went to one thousand private landowners who had given > great service for Buganda and who were actually already in possession of > these estates (calculated at an average of 8 sq. miles per individual); 320 > sq. miles went to Ssaza chiefs and their official estates; the rest went to > Mbogo the moslem chief, Kamuswaga the chief of Kooki, the Kabaka's > relatives, the 3 regents at the time and to missionary societies. Altogether > 19600 sq. miles. Therefore, for Kajabago to say that the objective of a > federal structure is for the Kabaka to extract money from individuals for > personal use, is preposterous and an insult to our King. > > The land in contention is the afore-mentioned 9000 sq. miles of Buganda land > which was transferred from the colonial authority to the Buganda Land Board > in 1962 and then grabbed by Obote, who declared that it belonged to the > Central Government and moved it to the Uganda Land Commission. What Buganda > is saying is that it should revert to the Buganda Land Board where it > rightly belongs. On the other hand, this government is saying that they > don't know where this land is, although Kiwanuka Ssemakula at the same time > is saying that there are people with leases on it. Instead of questioning > the King's motive, Mr Kajabago should ask the NRM government to explain to > the public, exactly who sold leases to these people and where this land is, > since it is still in the hands of the Central Government. > > The Baganda already had a sophisticated and well-organized system of land > tenure and ownership even before the arrival of the Europeans. The majority > of Buganda land was held as 'bibanja' under customary tenancy. All the > bibanja holders had security of tenure and their payment of 'busuulu' to the > landlord tantamounted to proof of ownership. That meant that a kibanja owner > could sell, transfer or inherit the said land. The bibanja holders were not > thrown off the land and were quite happy to keep things as they were. In any > case, one had the option to buy the land outright, thereby turning it into > freehold. Mailo land was therefore not a problem for the Baganda, that is, > until Amin came in with the 1975 Land Decree which took away bibanja > holders' rights. > > That said, the obsession of this government, especially its leader, with > Buganda land has not been lost to the keen observer. This government has > tried to grab Buganda land using all sorts of dubious means and > justifications. Instead of revoking Amin's decree, the NRM government > aggravated the problem by legitimizing illegal settlement and unlawful > occupancy by a minority that had used guns and their positions of influence > to occupy the said land. The 1998 Land Act was directed at Buganda land and > was intended to give illegal squatters the right to attain titles and > registrable interests on this land. Incidentally, the time limit, 12 years, > which was specified in the Act for legitimizing occupancy was exactly the > number of years the NRM had been in power. You don't need to be a rocket > scientist to figure out who profited from this law. > > All in all, Kajabago-ka-Rusoke's state of mind is very typical of so-called > cadres who can't imagine that a person can do something for the good of his > people and not just for personal gain. His standpoint is very telling of NRM > ideologues - their driving motive to join politics is to assert themselves > economically. I strongly doubt that the NRM reflects "the social and > economic will of the majority" as he wants to make us believe, rather the > aim, we are told, is to create a middle class (made up mainly of one ethnic > group and through embezzlement and robbing of state coffers). It is not > Uganda they are thinking about, it is about filling their stomachs. > > Kasangwawo > > >From: Omar Kezimbira <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: [Ugnet] The concept of Federo: A case study - Monitor - > >October17-23, 2004 > >Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 13:54:21 -0700 (PDT) > > _______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/