Residents Claim Ownership of Land Occupied by Prisons in Abim

About 300 residents from Amita Parish in Abim district have accused Amita Prison authorities of illegally using their land.

Led by Rev. Caleb Omwony, the LCIII Chairperson of Abim Sub County, the families are claiming over 2,000 acres of land they allegedly lost when they were reportedly forced out of the area due to insecurity.

According to Rev. Omwony, the land belonging to three sub-clans that include Kalio, Watangole and Kapwor in Abim Sub County were grabbed in 1972. He says that they earlier sought dialogue with the prison authorities in an attempt to reclaim the said land in vain and now, they are seeking compensation.

//Cue in; “The complaint of the…

Cue out… must be compensated.”//

Omwony adds that the community in 1948 donated some land to the prisons authorities but it later on extended boundaries leaving about 300 people from Arengebwola, Loima parishes landless. He says that the community may have no option but to seek redress from the courts of law.

//Cue in; “They have been…

Cue out… go to court."//

The Officer in Charge of Amita Prison Alfred Nuwatuha described the claims by Omwony as baseless adding that they have a land title for the land in Amita.

He, however, advised him to request prison authorities through legal procedures to assist the community with part of the land on a humanitarian basis due to population pressure. The Amita prison land measures 6, 800 acres, according to Nuwatuha.