By Francis Otucu

City tycoon, Abid Alam has been summoned over a land row between him and locals of Bukompe Village, Kyakatebe Parish, Nalutuntu Sub-County in Kassanda district.

Abid is expected to appear before Lands Minister, Betty Amongi on Friday at Ministry of Lands Boardroom.

Others to appear before the meeting are the local police authorities and locals of Bukompe who allege they have been victims of Alam’s torture through his ‘aides’.

Wamala Regional Police Commander, Bob Kagarura confirmed the summon. Kagarura said the meeting is expected to reach at a lasting solution to the wrangle on Block 308.

The summon comes as a follow up on the September 27, 2019 meeting in which both parties interfaced at Hotel Africana in Kampala. During the meeting, the In Charge, Kassanda Police Station, Ivan Tenywa tol the meeting that Bukompe was peaceful.

Tenywa was backed by Abid’s lawyer, a one Isma Nassif. However, the Friday meeting comes after an October 6, 2019 incident in which a local resident identified as Everest Bizimu was hacked four times on the head by aides of Abid.

He was rushed to Hope Clinic, Kyakatebe and later referred to Mubende Hospital from where he succumbed to an unlawful wounding on Tuesday morning. According to Kagarura, the police is hunting 14 people who brutalized Bizimu.

“The DPC and I were on the ground on October 8, 2019, we recovered a lot of things of evidential value. However, the suspects scattered in to the sugarcane,” he said adding, “They won’t keep in the sugarcane for long,” Commenting on the meeting, Kagarura said: “The Ministry of Lands is in charge. As police, we aren’t seated. We want the Ministry to draw a line where the Indian and the locals will stop, to end clashes.”.

This news site understands that the meeting comes amidst defiance from Abid who reportedly went against the Minister’s directive of halting evictions.

Dennis Lwanga, a local resident told this news site on Wednesday that the lies told by both police and Abid’s men have been exposed.

“Ivan Tenywa, a senior police officer told us in a meeting with the minister that Bukompe is peaceful, days later, there is a dead body in Bukompe. Our people are being tortured and if this continues, we will be left with an option of defending ourselves,” Lwanga said adding that he is ready to face off with Abid’s men before the Minister.

FAMILY REJECTS SHS50M ‘MABUGO”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Bizimu’s family declined Shs50M offer to silence them.

The widow, Agnes Nyiraguhirwa said the family was approached by Abid’s son and four others who asked them to take the money on condition that no postmortem report was done but also give favorable police statement linking the death to an accident.  

Part of the money was reportedly to silence medical officers at Mubende so as to give false postmortem report. A close family source however said the offer landed in the lands of Bizimu’s son in law.

Bizimu’s brother connected Nyiraguhirwa’s narrative.

“His son told us that my brother already died. That we take the money. However, as family, we have declined to take the money because we want the truth,” James Hirwa said.

The land under was contention was procured at Shs3billion from former area Member of Parliament, Sam Bitangalo and given to former occupants of a Forest Reserve in Kiboga under their umbrella body Kiboga Twegatte Cooperative Union.