By KT Reporter
President Yoweri Museveni has indicated that his government is considering offering long-term leases for two forest reserves in Nakaseke District following sustained appeals from local leaders over land conflicts.
Museveni made the remarks on Tuesday while addressing campaign rallies in Butalangu Town, Nakaseke District, and later in Wabinyonyi Sub-county, Nakasongola District, as part of his bid for a seventh presidential term.
At the Nakaseke rally, district leaders led by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Chairperson Muhamadi Gubya and Vice Chairperson Syda Bbumba commended Museveni for transforming the area through government programmes such as the Parish Development Model and for attracting investors who have established factories employing hundreds of youths.
However, Bbumba told the President that despite these gains, Nakaseke continues to grapple with persistent land conflicts and urged him to prioritise their resolution if re-elected.
Professor Wilber Ahebwa, the NRM parliamentary candidate for Nakaseke North Constituency, said a majority of his constituents live within gazetted forest reserves and face the constant threat of eviction by the National Forestry Authority (NFA).
Ahebwa appealed to Museveni to degazette Kamusenene-Kyakapimpi and Kabwika Mujwarangano forest reserves, arguing that doing so would benefit hundreds of long-term settlers.
The two forest reserves span more than 60 square miles across Ngoma and Kinyogogga sub-counties and are estimated to be home to about 10,000 people.
In response, Museveni said no resident would be evicted. Instead, he revealed that government is considering leasing the forest reserves to settlers for 49 years, on condition that they engage in tree planting alongside regulated agricultural activities.
Museveni acknowledged that while the land was legitimately gazetted as forest reserves, government currently lacks the capacity to fully implement its tree-planting plans there, making leasing a practical interim solution.
He added, however, that he would address land wrangles in other parts of the country at a press conference to be held soon.
Under the Forestry Act, 2003, the government may grant long-term leases of up to 49 years strictly for commercial forest plantations, including timber, poles, fuel wood, or eco-tourism. How this framework would be enforced in Nakaseke, where settlers also depend on subsistence farming, remains unclear.
In 2019, Museveni similarly yielded to public pressure and degazetted Kyalubanga Forest Reserve in Nakasongola District to resettle thousands of landless and displaced families, citing the need to address historical injustices.
By the time the degazettement was approved, at least 400 households had already occupied part of the land. The eight-square-mile reserve spans four sub-counties: Nakitoma, Lwabiyata, Lwampanga, and Nabiswera.
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