By Aggrey Baba
The long-running land disputes in Uganda could become a central test of the proposed national political settlement being advanced by Gen Caleb Akandwanaho (Salim Saleh) and Professor Ogenga Otunnu, whose working paper calls for structured mediation, targeted interventions and the resolution of historical grievances that continue to fuel conflict in communities.
The paper, titled Consociational Democracy Agreement: Addressing the Root Causes and Consequences of Sectarianism, Exclusion, Marginalization and Conflicts in Uganda, argues that political cooperation cannot deliver lasting national unity if the land question and other deeply rooted grievances remain unresolved.
Instead of limiting the proposed agreement to negotiations among political leaders, the President YK Museveni’s brother recommends extending its implementation to districts, parishes, villages and households where disputes over land, access to services and economic opportunities are experienced.
The proposed framework envisages district land boards and community-level structures working alongside local leaders and existing mediation mechanisms to address disputes involving land owners, bibanja holders and other affected parties.
The paper highlights the Kapeeka Land Bank Committee as an example of structured mediation, saying the approach had resolved or advanced dozens of specific land disputes through patient negotiation and cooperation.
It recommends replicating the model in other parts of the country, particularly in areas where grievances are well documented and acute.
The approach, is significant because land disputes are treated not merely as isolated property disagreements, but as part of wider questions of access to resources, economic opportunity, security and national integration.
The Gen Saleh argue that unresolved grievances can continue to create resentment even when political leaders have reached agreements at the national level.
Under the proposed implementation structure, community-level concerns would feed into district and regional processes, while the national framework would provide coordination and political direction.
The paper also recommends targeted interventions to address historical and contemporary injustices, alongside government policies and budgets designed to respond to specific grievances.
For the authors, the test of the proposed agreement would be whether ordinary citizens (abantu bawansi) experience tangible improvements in the resolution of disputes and access to opportunities, rather than simply hearing about cooperation among political giants.
Gen Saleh’s document therefore places local mediation and the resolution of land grievances among the practical steps needed to translate a national political settlement into peace and development at household level. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
