Minister for Local Government Balaam Barugahara has directed residents and traders to resume operations in Rushebeya Market in Rukiga District.
The market is located on a piece of land that is under dispute. It was allegedly fenced off in April 2026 by former Rukiga District Woman MP Caroline Kamusiime Muhwezi and her husband, Andrew Muhwezi.
The land, located at Rushebeya Trading Centre in Rwamucucu Sub-county along the Kabale-Kisiizi Road, has traditionally hosted a public market that operates twice a month.Barugahara intervened on Thursday during his nationwide anti-corruption drive, making his first stop at the disputed land.
Residents told him that Kamusiime and her husband had allegedly threatened to shoot and kill anyone who attempted to access the fenced section.Traders operating in lockups on the land also faced eviction. Some were reportedly instructed to stop paying rent to their landlords if they had supported Kamusiime during the 2026 general elections.One of the affected landlords, Julius Arineitwe, accused his tenant, Barbra Tukamuhabwa, of withholding two million shillings in rent after allegedly being instructed by the former legislator and her husband not to pay.
Arineitwe said he constructed the lockup in 1993 and had since rented it out for income. He said Tukamuhabwa stopped paying rent after the land was fenced off.Barugahara ordered Tukamuhabwa’s arrest and directed that she be handed over to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit over allegations that she was colluding with people accused of grabbing public land and frustrating the landlord.Tukamuhabwa was subsequently arrested and taken to Rukiga Police Station.
Zadock Kamusiime, the Rukiga Resident District Commissioner, said a security meeting was convened shortly after the land was fenced off to discuss the dispute and the alleged defiance of a presidential directive concerning the compulsory acquisition of the land.
Kamusiime said the government was expected to compensate the affected parties, but the land was supposed to remain under government control for use as a public market and for other public functions.
Barugahara directed residents and traders to resume using the land as the government works with the Chief Government Valuer to establish the compensation due to Kamusiime and her husband.
He said that if the couple was dissatisfied with the presidential directive, they should seek legal redress against President Yoweri Museveni rather than prevent the public from accessing the land.
Neither Kamusiime nor Muhwezi was present at the disputed site or at Rukiga District headquarters to respond to the allegations.
The dispute over the land dates back several years. On November 8, 2017, unidentified individuals reportedly began surveying the market land. Shortly afterwards, inmates from Ndorwa Government Prison were deployed to demarcate and fence it off.
Residents intervened and attempted to lynch the inmates, prompting their evacuation.
The dispute is also linked to a court case involving Rwamucucu Sub-county and David Gakyaro. In 2015, Gakyaro sued sub-county leaders for allegedly cutting down his trees without authorisation.
The Kabale High Court ordered the sub-county to pay him 11 million shillings in damages, but the local government paid only six million shillings.
Gakyaro returned to court, which issued an order allowing him to attach the market land after the then sub-county chief, Justus Ampeire, and LCIII Chairperson Justus Tushabomwe reportedly failed to appear in court to testify.
In April 2026, individuals led by Kamusiime and Muhwezi, reportedly under security protection, fenced off another section of the land. That portion has remained inaccessible to the public since then-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
