Minister Kahinda Otafiire has defended his ownership of land in Njeru, Buikwe District, dismissing allegations that he illegally grabbed land belonging to the Njeru Government Stock Farm.
In a statement responding to recent social media claims, Otafiire accused critics of deliberately misrepresenting the facts to portray him as having taken over the entire government stock farm.
“I have read with interest the several social media tweets and the recent article in the New Vision newspaper in respect to my ownership of land located in Njeru, Buikwe District. There has been a deliberate drive to distort the facts and portray a specific narrative of me being a land grabber of the whole stock farm land,” Otafiire said.
The minister explained that he owns part of the land formerly designated as Plots 3 and 4, Block 295, Njeru, which he says he legally purchased in 2016 from the late Fred Lukwajju and Christopher Lule.
According to Otafiire, Lukwajju and Lule were administrators of the estates of the late Enoka Sebowa and Guster Seruwo, the original owners of the land.
He said they obtained Letters of Administration and High Court orders from Jinja in 2011 authorising the creation of certificates of title before selling portions of the property.
Otafiire stated that the administrators sold the approximately 640-acre property to more than 25 companies and individuals, including Modern Titles Limited, Modern Laminates Limited, Modern Agro Industries Limited, Modern Organizers Limited, Kiira Plastics Limited, A-One Limited, PAO Products, Sino Glass Manufacturing Limited, Shreeji Glass (U) Limited, Seyani Brothers, Parie G Sweets Limited, Keshwala & Sons, as well as Mandala Mafabi, Justice Steven Kavuma, Livingston Lukabwe, Faisal Musiige, Musa Were, Stephen Kulyaige, Rajab Senfuka, Kalyan Pachani Kanji, Steven Mugga and Wilfred Bujoingo, among others.
He noted that all the purchasers have developed their respective properties, transforming the area into an industrial complex and occupying the land peacefully since 2018.
“It is therefore interesting that I have been intentionally singled out as the biggest land grabber simply because my land is the easiest target for the stock farm management to use as a ploy to divert the truth about their occupation of the land,” he said.
Otafiire further argued that the Njeru Government Stock Farm only occupied former Plot 2, measuring approximately 190 acres, and not Plots 3 and 4 where his land is situated.
He cited what he described as admissions by the Minister of State for Animal Industry, Bright Rwamirama, and later by the New Vision, that the stock farm lost its legal interest in the land after failing to pay ground rent to the estate of Barbara Lakeri Nalubaale, daughter of the late Ham Mukasa, in 2009.
According to Otafiire, the High Court in Jinja subsequently confirmed an order of re-entry after the Ministry of Agriculture and the stock farm failed to meet the lease conditions.
He also claimed that on May 30, 2026, the stock farm removed its nitrogen equipment, cattle and furniture from the property, which he said demonstrates that it no longer has any interest in the land.
Otafiire questioned why the Ministry of Agriculture and the stock farm management continue to accuse him of occupying Plot 2 despite, he says, his land being located entirely on Plots 3 and 4.
“It is rather interesting why the stock farm management and the Ministry of Agriculture, who have never paid any rent since 2011 despite budgeting for and withdrawing money for the same, have continuously cried foul and claimed that I am occupying former Plot 2, yet in reality my land is situated on Plots 3 and 4, which have nothing to do with the former stock farm,” he said.
The statement comes amid an ongoing public dispute over ownership of land in Njeru, with competing claims from private landowners and government authorities continuing to attract national attention.
