Land conflicts management and national security in Uganda: a case of Wakiso district.

Abstract

The study investigated land conflicts management and National Security in Uganda using a case of Wakiso District. The study objectives included examining the political, economic and social causes of land conflicts in Wakiso district, assessing the security challenges posed by land conflicts in Wakiso district and examining the relationship between land conflicts and national security using Wakiso district. The study reviewed the relevant literature in relation to the study objectives. The research design was mixed adopting both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The sample size of the study consisted of 150 respondents of the target population. These included 6 District administrators (RDC, town clerk, mayor, councillors), 25 Police officers, 25 community leaders and 94 local peasants. The study employed a purposive sampling to select respondents who included resident district commissioners, land desk officers in the police and local council leaders. Local peasants were randomly selected so as to get equal representation of the respondents. The study used questionnaires, interview guides and focus group discussions. The study findings in table 2 revealed that the causes of land conflicts in Wakiso district are many but the key ones included rapid development of the area since it’s an urban center and hence serves as a hot cake for investors, in addition, the population has grown for the past years close to one million and five hundred thousand people making land more scarce hence escalating contentions about the limited land, in addition, the increasing vice of corruption backed up by government officials who are highly placed has created a kingdom of untouchables who have found interest in land grabbing. The findings indicated that there are many security challenges which cripple the process of land conflicts management which later escalate into a threat to life, and food security in the community. The results in table 5 above indicated that majority of the respondents stated that poor land conflict management leads to loss of land from the people. The respondents at the land office revealed that poor land conflicts management has led to loss of land. They gave an example of the Lusanja case of land where people were evicted from their land. The study recommended that the government through the parament of Uganda should cut off the adhoc institutions causing confusion on who does what among the institutions involved in solving land conflicts. Transparency and equity must be the defining characteristics of any public land distribution. Private firms and investors must be urged and even compelled to adopt and adhere to the minimum requirements of corporate responsibility with regard to their interactions with the victims of the varied land acquisitions which are taking place in all regions of the country.