KAMPALA – Jinja South East Member of Parliament Hon. Paul Mwiru has asked the Committee on Physical Infrastructure to intervene in a land dispute involving his property on Nyanza Road in Jinja City, calling for a joint boundary verification exercise to establish the limits of the Uganda Railways reserve.
Appearing before the committee, Mwiru explained that he purchased Plot 16 from Salamugo Investments Ltd in 2018 after conducting investigations with the Ministry of Lands to establish the ownership and status of the property.
He said the investigations confirmed that the land title was registered in the name of Salamugo Investments Ltd, which had obtained a leasehold title from the Jinja District Land Board, the custodian of public land in the district.
Mwiru said further checks established that the land was not occupied by anyone at the time, prompting him to proceed with the purchase. The title was subsequently transferred into the name of his company, Mwiru Holdings, in 2022.
However, when he was preparing to develop the property, he began receiving information that other people were claiming ownership of portions of the land and that part of it could be affected by the Uganda Railways corridor.
He said he had repeatedly approached the relevant land offices seeking clarification but encountered different explanations, making it difficult to establish the exact boundaries of his property.
According to Mwiru, the land authorities later confirmed that other ownership claims existed and indicated that an open boundary verification exercise would be conducted.
He said he asked those claiming ownership to present their land titles so that the relevant authorities could establish the boundaries and determine whether their properties extended into his land.
Mwiru added that he personally visited the site and established that there was no encroachment on his property, insisting that he had conducted the necessary investigations before purchasing it.
He further told the committee that the railway authorities had recently moved to evict some occupants who also held land titles but were already living on the disputed land.
The legislator said officials responsible for physical infrastructure had visited the site to establish the facts surrounding the competing claims.
He disclosed that he had written to the Uganda Railways Board requesting it to participate in a joint boundary-opening exercise to establish the extent of the railway reserve and prevent further misunderstandings.
Mwiru also called on the Ministry of Lands and the relevant surveying authorities to conduct a fresh ground assessment and clearly establish where his property ends.
He said the exercise would help him determine the portions available for development while avoiding interference with railway land and resolving conflicts involving other landowners.
The MP urged the responsible authorities to provide a clear and lasting solution to the dispute, arguing that landowners who had acquired property after conducting official searches should not be left uncertain about their ownership boundaries.
