Kabushenga's column. SundayVision, 8th June, 2003
Back to the Kibaale issue
I am amazed at the level of xenophobia in this
country. You should have seen the language of the
text messages and phone calls I received because of
my thoughts last week. Anyway, for the record, let me
state that my beef on the issue of Bakiga in Kibaale
is with our national leadership.
It’s got nothing to do with the land grievance of the
Banyoro and in fact I think it is a legitimate one. The
only problem is that in blaming the Bakiga for the
land problems of Bunyoro is misdirected anger.
History clearly states that the Banyoro were
dispossessed of this land by the invading colonial forces
supported by the Baganda.
This land was then distributed to various Baganda
generals and administrators as a
reward for their support of the colonial war and
administration. This injustice was
never reversed, not even by the hoax that was the 1964
referendum that purported
to return the lost counties back to Bunyoro.
In 1979, the Baganda landlords who own vast tracts of
land in Bunyoro learnt that
the effect of the referendum was to transfer
administrative authority of the counties
from Buganda to Bunyoro. The land remained in the hands
of absentee landlords in
Buganda who then proceeded to mortgage it to finance
their less contentious
businesses in Kampala. Others decided to flog it on the
market on a willing
seller/buyer basis and this is where your average Mukiga
comes in to buy.
These then encouraged their relatives to migrate to
Bunyoro and buy land, which
was available for sale. The return on this investment has
been impressive
considering the level of success that many of the
migrants have achieved. This, it
seems to me, is what has ticked off the groups in Kibaale
that are agitating for the
eviction of Bakiga from the land. How else does one
explain the xenophobia that
was used by these elements remove a duly elected leader
purely on the basis that
he was a Mukiga?
There is of course the group from Toro, which was
resettled in Kibaale in an area
formerly designated as a game reserve. This turned to be
a hard one for the
Banyoro to swallow. They argued that since the government
had failed to redress
the injustice of land ownership by absentee landlords,
they should have been given
first priority to settle on this land. Let me say that I
identify with this sentiment
although this need not have been done either to the
exclusion of or the
disadvantage of the Bakiga. Everyone could have been
accommodated in the
resettlement deal. The other reason for deserving first
priority is that the Banyoro
have first claim as the descendants of the area. Apart
from being a stupid and
self-serving argument it is hardly borne out by history.
The failure here was that of government and not the
imaginary notion that Bakiga
have moved from the south-west of this country to grab
land in Bunyoro. The
government failed to uphold the right of its citizens to
live in Toro on the grounds
that they were not born there. They compounded this by
accepting to resettle these
people anywhere and thus making the point that government
can compromise on
this issue. Now I hear that there is a proposal to
resettle these people in
Kyankwanzi. I think that this merely postponing the
problem and that eventually
these people will wind up settling outside parliament.
The answer is for the
government to enforce the right of the Bakiga to stay in
Kibaale on land they have
acquired lawfully. It should then work on the politics of
ensuring that this solution is
accepted.
The other thrust of the Kasirivu argument is that the
Banyoro were willing to be
generous in hosting the Bakiga because there was a
surplus of land. Now that their
own populations are growing they are justified in driving
out the Bakiga to create
living space for their progeny. Those of us who live in a
modern economy believe
that land is a commodity to be exchanged on the market.
This kind of sentimental
approach normally leads to low productivity because it is
not used optimally. So if
the land in the area can no longer support the population
of the area the answer is
to offer alternative settlement opportunities for the
Banyoro.
I therefore believe that the solution is to protect the
Bakiga who have acquired land
lawfully. The other is for the government to address the
issue of injustice to
Banyoro whose land was forcefully taken and is now in the
hands of absentee
landlords from Buganda. This can be bought back and given
to the Banyoro by
government. This discussion however needs to be conducted
in a sober manner,
and not with the likes of those masquerading in the name
of Bunyoro patriotism
that have added arrogance to the reasons for evicting
Bakiga.
Eends
Published on: Sunday, 8th June, 2003 - sundayvision
Mitayo Potosi
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