Speaking to journalists on Saturday, the residents who use part of the land for distilling waragi, say they will lose their source of livelihood if the authorities evict them. Nelson Opoka is one of the affected residents. According to Opoka, he inherited the land from his late predecessors in 2003 and decided to construct rental units housing 12 tenants.
More than 500 residents of Makenke village in Jinja City Southern Division are living in uncertainty over looming eviction from an estimated 15-acres of land. The City authorities have given the residents a month's eviction notice, saying they illegally occupied the land. The affected residents are expected to vacate the land by June 30th, 2022.
The residents, most of whom have spent over 20 years on the contested land say that the graveyards of their predecessors are found within the area. They want Jinja city authorities to find means of compensating them for the land. Other residents say they have been constructing permanent houses with the approval of the physical planning department for the past 20 years and it is unfair for them to be described as illegal settlers.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday, the residents who use part of the land for distilling waragi, say they will lose their source of livelihood if the authorities evict them. Nelson Opoka is one of the affected residents. According to Opoka, he inherited the land from his late predecessors in 2003 and decided to construct rental units housing 12 tenants.
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Laban Ofwono, a father of 13 children wants Jinja city to allocate him an alternative piece of land to resettle his family.
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Jessica Kigenyi, another resident who uses part of her house to operate a general merchandise shop says that her business is the only source of tuition fees for her five children, and evicting them would affect their education.
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Jinja city spokesperson, Rajab Kiito says that the affected people are illegal settlers, adding that their efforts to convince them to vacate peacefully in the last five years have not yielded results prompting them to issue an official eviction notice.
