Rubangakene (left) and Onek standing in front of their tractors after testing them in Anaka town council last week. All Photos by GNNA Editor
By: GNNA Editor
Nwoya
The inconveniences experienced by 29 families of Nyamukino parish, Lungulu sub-county in Nwoya district are paying off after they were compensated for the loss.
The families had since 2016 been conflicting over 6,000 acres of land with the late Harriet Aber, a business associate to Gen. Saleh, and her close relatives.
Gen. Saleh, also the Senior Presidential Advisor on Security, said he wanted to see a harmonious co-existence between the family and the victims and gave shs2b as compensation for the land.
The mediation which was conducted by Justine Ojara Lawot, the Bwobo-manam clan chief, under the watch of Emmanuel Orach, the district chair, and Jennifer Natume Egunyu, the Chief Administrative Officer, started in July and ended in October 2023.
Investing in projects
Through a consensus of paying shillings 400,000 per acre, the majority of the claimants have bought land, and tractors and are constructing permanent houses.
Samuel Rubangakene the chairperson of the beneficiaries told GNNA that of the 29 families, 70% have bought land, others are into construction of permanent houses and three have bought tractors.
Joyce Asera, a widow with six children and a resident of Anaka town council, said she is constructing a four-unit rental house she hopes will give her regular income once completed.
Andrew Okot, a 46-year-old and a resident of Paduny cell, Ceke ward in Anaka town council, said he lost all his property during a forceful eviction from his land and had lost hope of having a better home.
However, Okot is happy that the construction of his shs30m rental houses and pig pen will be complete in three weeks.
Samuel Rubangakene, Samuel Onek, and Francis Oringa have each bought a tractor worth over shs110m. The trio wants to venture into commercial farming, and open land for other farmers at a fee.
“We can get bigger contracts of opening huge expanses of land. We therefore request Gen. Saleh to link us to commercial farmers who would want our services,” Rubangakene told GNNA.
Expanding apiary farming
Before the land conflict escalated in Nyamukino, Rubangakene had accumulated 16 beehives.
But when the land conflict persisted, he relocated to Agung village, Pabali parish in Anaka sub-county, his original ancestral home, leaving his beehives behind.
“After settling in Agung, in May 2021, I sold a calf at shs130,000. I used part of the money to buy three local beehives at shs 30,000 each to restart the apiary project,” he explained.
Since then, Rubangakene has been adding more beehives to expand the business. The 37-year-old is now in partnership with Christine Auma, Hannington Kidega, and Samuel Onek to boost the venture using their compensation funds.
When GNNA visited the three sites of their beehives in Anaka town council, Agung, and Kinene village in Alero sub-county, the trio had installed 180 beehives at an estimated cost of shs15m.
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