Kayunga District Woman MP, Ms. Idah Nantaba who is also a former minister of state for lands is on the spot after her neighbor identified as Matovu Isa accused her of encroaching on his land and destroying his property and crops without permission.
The incident happened at Ndeeba Village, Kayunga Town council, in Kayunga district.
According to the village LC1 chairman, Mr Frank Kanamwangi, Ms. Nantaba, who is constructing a house for her aging mother Ms Rachael Naluwooza allegedly razed down crops and property of her neighbour as well as grabbing pieces of their land in the process of grading the land to construct a perimeter fence on it.
“Crops such as coffee, bananas, beans, cassava, jack fruit trees and others were razed down by the grader, something that infuriated residents. The grader also razed down the toilet leaving Matovu and his family stranded on where to go for to answer the nature’s call,” Mr. Kanamwangi said.
“I went and reported the matter to Kayunga police station, which prompted officers to stop the grader from going ahead with the work,” the chairman added.
Although Nantaba claimed to have given Matovu money earlier as compensation for him to remove the toilet, the latter denied receiving any funds from the ex-minister and instead accused her of using her position and powers to exploit him.
Commenting on the matter, Ms Nantaba instead of apologizing for the destruction done on their property accused her neighbours of fighting her all the time. “I was grading my land. Those crops that were destroyed by the grader are not a big issue. You are just fighting me,” Ms Nantaba told residents.
Her remarks angered the area LCI chairman and residents, who responded by accusing the former minister of hoodwinking residents for long that she was against land grabbing.
“You have become popular on claims of fighting land grabbers but you have been just deceiving us,” Ms Sarah Nawagi told Ms Nantaba.
This resulted into a bitter verbal exchange between Ms Nantaba and residents.
Ms Nantaba and Mr Kanamwangi nearly exchanged fists, prompting the former to call her Special Forces Command (SFC) guards, who arrived and restrained Ms Nantaba from fighting.
Commenting on the matter, Ms Nantaba accused her neighbour’s of harbouring ill motives and plotting her political downfall. “This is just political witch hunt,” she said.
The Kayunga District police commander, Mr Felix Mugizi, declined to comment on the matter but a police source that did not want to be named in the this story because he’s not authorized to talk to journalists, said a file on the matter had been opened up.
“We have asked the complainants to come and make statements. We shall investigate the matter,” a police source said.
Additional Reporting by Fred Muzaale / DailyMonitor
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