GOVT WEYAYU? Tororo widow, 90, loses land to notorious grabber, seeks legal help
A journey of 90 years on this planet earth is full of ups and downs—disappointment, and frustration and above all despair—or the opposite.
This is the life, which Aboth Aida Magadlene a resident of Nambogo A Village, Nambogo Ward, Iyolwa Town Council, Tororo District, has gone through for the past nine years in the hands of land grabbers.
Having settled on her land in the 1950s with her late husband Jacob Okoth, God blessed them with 14 children, 11 of whom have passed on leaving her with two daughters and her only son, Otwan Kenan.
In April 1975, due to ill health, her husband, Jacob Okoth summoned family members and clearly wrote his will, stating the land acreage, animals, children and his one wife, Aboth Aida Magdalene plus witnesses.
After the death of her husband, she went ahead and bought a piece of land in Ngetta C, in the same Nambogo ward and settled with her only surviving son, Otwan Kenan and they left the land under dispute for farming purposes.
All of a sudden in early 2015 , one John Oloka now deceased and his family members notably his sons and daughters, Otogo Nathan, Oketch Wilber, Amade Joyce and grandchildren Okello, Isaac Omorowange, with impunity allegedly embarked on felling off trees, farming on it and vandalizing the cemented graves of Aboth’s husband and the children. This underhand impunity attracted the attention of the whole village.
OFFICE OF LC1 INTERVENTION
Because of the community concern from the residents, the old widow reported a case of criminal trespass and malicious damage and threatening violence to the LC1 chairman office, who convened a village court session immediately to find out circumstance under which one, John Oloka and family invaded, encroached and started using his neighbor’s land without her consent and not having sold it to any one.
After careful assessment by the village chairman and his committee plus over 70 villagers who attended the session, they all testified against the impunity of one John Oloka and family in disturbing the old woman on her land.
The LC1chairman and his committee made a pronouncement and wrote a judgment in favour of the widow and handed over the land back to her.
“Can you imagine, one of the witnesses in favour of the old widow, was the daughter of the land grabber, one Azeresi Achieng who persuaded her father to leave the old widow’s land peacefully and instead he started threatening his own daughter in front of over 80 people, who attended that court session and all signed,” says one of the villagers who attended the meeting.
POLICE ARRESTS AND REMAND
After the LC1 pronouncement and hand over of the land to the old widow, the land grabbers, stealthily and clandestinely continued to cut trees and gardening on that land, which prompted the old lady to call for police intervention.
Tororo CPS Police in turn investigated, photographed the damages and carried out arrests of John Oloka and his sons, Otogo Nathan, Oketch Wilber and his daughter Amade Joyce.
They were produced in Tororo magistrates’ court for criminal trespass, malicious damage and threatening violence. They were bailed out and seriously warned to stop disturbing the old woman on her land all in vain.
In the due process of that criminal case, the land dispute was referred to Justice Centres Uganda Tororo offices for mediation. Justice Centres Uganda, summoned Oloka John and sons and they adamantly refused to appear and instead resorted to fraudulent surveying of that land using the area land committee without the consent of the LC1 office and the neighbors.
“Simple question posed, where does the Area Land Committee get the power to survey some body’s land on which the LC I committee had already pronounced itself? This old woman needs justice from well-wishers out there,” another local resident wonders.
LETTER FROM CHIEF MAGISTRATES COURT
The chief magistrates Tororo office wrote a letter indicating that civil dispute over the same piece of land is still pending with Justice Centres Tororo, however, this land grabber and area land committee members ignored that communication and went ahead with the illegal survey and as per now, one of the grand children of Oloka is constructing a permanent house in that land.
The southern part of this land, borders River Malaba where the government has pronounced that every land owner should leave a buffer zone of 200 metres from the river bank, however, this particular family of John Oloka particularly Otogo Nathan, went ahead and planted eucalyptus trees, blocked, barricaded the walk way for people, animals and vehicles which ferry river sand using barbed wire—the whole village have lost their livelihood.
THE OLD WOMAN’S PLEA TO NGOS FOR LEGAL HELP
Following the untimely death of Aboth Aidah’s daughter, one Florence Nyaketcho, who had taken her to her home in June 2022, the situation has changed from bad to worse and now she resides in her late daughter’s place alone, stressed and depressed.
“At this point, she wants humanitarian organizations like NGOs which fights for the rights of widows and orphans, good samaritans out there and other relevant government offices like the office of RDC, pro-bono legal services to come and help her recover her land from these land grabbers and arrest these people for continuous malicious damage and criminal trespass and prosecute them accordingly,” adds another concerned resident.
MORUKATIPE GOVERNMENT PRISONS
Whereas the alleged criminal minded land grabbers were arrested and deposited to Morukatipe Prisons for remand for the same land in 2015 and bailed out prematurely, this time round the widow wants them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
ODPP JANE ABODO’s COMMENTS ON LAND MATTER BEFORE COURTS
In the recent meeting between the President, court prosecutors and investigators at Kibuli, the Director of Public Prosecutions , Jane Abodo informed the President and the entire conference that “if you want to kill land case, take it to court” because it takes years and years and leaves the parties exhausted and strained in terms of time and resources.
She suggested to the President that the most appropriate and cost effective method of handling land matters is using the LCs because they have the full knowledge of the parties involved and the land under dispute. The President gladly supported the idea because the judges, magistrates rarely visit the land under dispute.
In this particular dispute, the LC1 chairman, his committee and the wananchi had done so and his judgment is available in writing. In land matters, there is no office more reliable than the LCs because they are at the grassroots and on the ground.
The old woman’s prayer is for the good Samaritans out there to come to her rescue and recover her land.
About Post Author
