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By Rukidi Rwakasimbi of KigambanankwaleDear leaders of all political stripes and citizens of the Republic,The President’s State of the Nation Address found me under the shade of my 60-plus-year-old mango tree. This season, it did not produce fruit, meaning it will bear them in December. As a peasant, I was most concerned with farming.As you may be aware, this year I resolved to crawl out of my shell and add my small voice to the many voices struggling to bring positive energy to our motherland. I strongly believe and hope that if we unite, we shall build a better world for future generations. I intend to do that by calling upon you to join hands and fight the various beasts threatening our existence—the same message preached by our dear leader.First, I will borrow Innocent Tegusulwa’s adage: “We are not poor; it is our heads that are poor.” If our heads are not poor, why should a Ugandan lack enough food or be homeless in their own country?Beast One: Poor Land Use and ManagementThe need for land is increasing at an alarming rate, yet the country’s land size reached its limit long ago when the colonialists tricked us into accepting borders they chose for reasons that had nothing to do with us. Can you imagine they placed some of our Bakonzo, Gisu, and Samya siblings on opposite sides of the border? No wonder our cousins in Congo are always fighting. Maybe the spirits want that piece of land returned to the motherland.From my vantage point here in the little-known village of Kigambanankwale, I think the increasing demand for land has been driven by two major factors. First, the population is skyrocketing. Second, the economy is growing. The President even gave statistics on this. As you would expect, many people will not agree with the second factor because in their communities they constantly hear negative elements singing the poverty anthem day and night. Nonetheless, those same lamenters are often the very people buying land and other valuables every passing day.For this piece, I will focus on land—the most precious asset a person can have. For more than ten years, I have prayed that our Fountain of Honor develops a vision for reviewing land use.The price of land keeps rising every month. If things were as bad as many claim, land prices would be falling, not rising. The fact that people continue to build houses and establish farms is evidence of progress. Currently, Uganda has enough buildings for everyone to use, but we are either mentally greedy or investing for future gains.On the farming side, every peasant wants more land because they want to produce more crops. If you asked one million farmers how much additional land they would like, each would probably say no less than ten acres. The country has millions of people in that category. That means if they had their way, Ugandan farmers alone would expand their gardens as far as Tanzania and into parts of other neighbouring countries.Greedily, Uganda could claim eastern Congo on the grounds that our great son Kabalega was born there. However, militarily, we do not possess the force capable of invading and taking territory from other countries, as Israel and Russia are currently doing. Even if we had the means, it would not be morally right. Therefore, as a country, we must embrace smart agriculture and proper land use, like Singapore and Egypt. To do that, however, we need to review our land-use laws.Today, many people are holding idle public land that could be used by other citizens. These individuals leased the land for farming, but for reasons best known to them, it remains unproductive. To address this, everyone holding public land should pay an annual tax if they fail to produce the targeted crop or livestock output. Likewise, they should be required to employ a reasonable number of workers to help combat unemployment.In other words, every holder of public land should submit a work plan indicating expected harvests and the number of people they intend to employ.Workers should be paid through banks to avoid mafiarism.Here in Kyankwanzi, it is common to find someone with 1,000 acres keeping only 300 head of local cattle on half the property while renting out the other half to peasants to grow seasonal crops. Such a person may not even bother growing food for their own family, instead buying food from markets like people who do not control even a spoonful of land.Sadly, many of these large landholders acquired their leases for peanuts shortly after the liberation war ended. Others connived with rogue land officials and bribed them to undervalue the land.Currently, here in Kyankwanzi District, peasants pay between UGX 200,000 and the equivalent of 400 kilograms of maize per acre per season to these landlords in order to grow cereal crops. On top of that, they provide omuganda labour from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for two days each week. Since there are two growing seasons annually, how much money does someone subleasing 500 acres earn? And how much tax do they pay to URA?Conditions on some of these farms are worse than those in North Korea; they resemble slavery. If, by accident, a cow, goat, or sheep belonging to the landlord dies in one of the gardens, all sub-lessees are immediately evicted. The landlord is then free to harvest the crops.If an animal goes missing, the landlord often demands compensation within a day or a week, depending on his mood.On some farms, the peasant must buy tools, agricultural inputs, food, and even medicine from the landlord at prices determined by the landlord. After harvest, the peasant is also required to sell the produce back to the landlord at a price set by the landlord, all while continuing to provide omuganda labour.I hear URA taxes people who earn rental income from buildings. How much tax do those subleasing large portions of public land pay to URA every year? And how much do they pay district land boards or the government for those leases?If this is a loophole in the law, then as a nation we can close it.Fortunately, many of these large landholders are patriotic bigwigs in government. I hope they emulate two patriotic leaders, Hon. Robinah Nabbanja and Hon. Anita Among, who returned the Karamoja iron sheets that they had inadvertently received. In this case, they could release idle land in their possession for others to use and develop the Republic.If that happens, crop production will increase and the country will earn more revenue.For the good of the nation, public land should be categorised into farmland, residential land, industrial land, and other uses. This would greatly assist developers and investors.In addition, I request the government to register all bibanja holders across the country and issue them National Identification Numbers linked to their land interests.As one team tackles the land-use challenge, another group can take on the second beast—food insecurity—but that debate is for another day.Our leaders, I conclude by praying that you set aside your political differences, consider my wild suggestions, and amplify them for the good of the nation.Fountain of Honor, there is something you said about Ugandans working in Arab countries that I did not fully understand. Yet those people have transformed their communities and families. I request that you elaborate further so that we may all understand your point.I remain your patriotic peasant,Rukidi Rwakasimbi of KigambanankwaleContact: Atwookirrr@gmail.com | 0752653030About Post Author
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