Bulambuli County MP Emmanuel Wepukhulu Biara has challenged the Government over plans to demolish houses belonging to communities living in landslide-prone areas of the Mount Elgon region and transfer the vacated land to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), warning that the move could violate citizens’ constitutional rights. The legislator wants Parliament to urgently examine the proposed arrangement before families are forced to permanently surrender land they have occupied for generations.
In a matter of urgent public importance presented to Parliament under Rule 56 of the Rules of Procedure, Biara questioned whether the Shs18 million being offered to each affected household is intended to support relocation or serve as full compensation for the permanent acquisition of their land, houses, crops and other property. He argued that the two issues should be treated separately to avoid denying citizens their legally protected property rights.
The MP welcomed the Government’s intervention to relocate families facing the threat of landslides and floods, commending President Yoweri Museveni, Cabinet and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja for responding to concerns raised by communities in the Mount Elgon sub-region. However, he maintained that protecting lives should not become a reason for taking away people’s ancestral land without following the constitutional procedures governing compulsory land acquisition.
Biara cited Article 26 of the Constitution, which protects the right to own property and requires Government to provide prompt, fair and adequate compensation before compulsorily acquiring privately owned property. He also referred to Article 237, which recognises citizens as owners of land in Uganda while allowing the State to acquire land for public purposes in accordance with the law. He questioned whether the proposed transfer of the vacated land to UWA for expansion of Mount Elgon National Park meets these legal requirements.
According to the legislator, communities in Bulambuli, Bududa, Namisindwa, Sironko and other surrounding districts are not rejecting relocation from dangerous areas. Their concern is what happens to their land after they move. He explained that many families have lived on these pieces of land for generations, relying on them for farming, livelihoods and family heritage, making permanent displacement without proper compensation a serious concern.
Biara has therefore asked Prime Minister Nabbanja to present a comprehensive statement to Parliament explaining the legal basis for demolishing beneficiaries’ homes and transferring the land to UWA. He also wants the Attorney General to clarify whether the Shs18 million package qualifies as relocation assistance or compensation for compulsory acquisition under the Constitution, and whether affected families can retain lawful ownership of their land after moving to safer locations.
The MP further called for the suspension of house demolitions and the transfer of privately owned or lawfully occupied land until Parliament establishes the applicable legal requirements, ownership arrangements, boundaries and compensation procedures.
He proposed an urgent investigation by the relevant parliamentary committee, involving consultations with affected communities, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Lands and UWA. However, he emphasised that this should not interfere with emergency evacuations or delay the payment of the Shs18 million relocation assistance.
Biara insisted that saving lives and protecting property rights must go hand in hand, arguing that Government can successfully relocate vulnerable communities without unnecessarily taking away their constitutional rights. “We must save lives without unnecessarily extinguishing lawful property rights,” he told Parliament, maintaining that the relocation programme deserves support but that any permanent takeover of ancestral land must undergo proper legal and parliamentary scrutiny.
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