86-Year-Old Mubende Woman’s Land Compensation Goes to Medical Care

Mubende — Nakatte Maria Ntonino is 86 years old and one of the elderly survivors in Mubende district who lost their ancestral land in 2001 to pave the way for the German-owned Kaweri Coffee Plantation.

Nakatte Maria Ntonino was 62 when soldiers came. During the eviction, her home was burned, and she was chased by soldiers.

She remembers the smoke more than the shouting—the way flames devoured her thatched roof, the screams of neighbours running and stumbling in panic. “They burned our houses. We ran. I was sick and couldn’t move,” she recalls, her voice trembling with age and memory.

Now 86, Ntonino sits quietly outside a small mud house in Mubende. Her health continues to decline, and the compensation she received has been used entirely for medical care. She was awarded UGX 3 million, though it is unclear if any remaining funds are accessible to her.

The UGX 3 million she recently received as compensation for the land lost nearly a quarter of a century ago has already gone to hospital bills. “I am sleeping,” she says softly. “No other development. Just sickness and hospital.”

Her story mirrors that of hundreds evicted in 2001 to make way for the Kaweri Coffee Plantation. For many, compensation arriving after 24 years is about more than money—it represents dignity, restoration, and a faint hope of healing.

A Life Marked by Loss and Delayed Justice

Among the oldest surviving victims of the eviction, Ntonino became gravely ill. Currently, she is frail, isolated, and living in poverty, unable to work. Emotionally, she shows signs of despair and abandonment, with the trauma of the eviction still affecting her to this day.

Though some tried to move her to Kampala for safety, her fragile condition kept her in Mubende. “I was sick and couldn’t move. They tried to take me to Kampala, but I couldn’t make it,” she recalls.

Today, with limited mobility and living in poverty, her daily life is defined by illness rather than recovery. The UGX 3 million she received in compensation went entirely to medical treatment. “They paid a little, but some remained. I left it at the bank—I don’t know if it has been sold or sent back,” she says.

Other victims from the affected villages of Kitemba, Kijunga, Kilyamakobe, and Luwunga have been able to use compensation to rebuild.

Charles Bagarukayo, now 53, lost an 85-acre farm and over UGX 70 million in investments during the eviction. “I turned pain into profit,” he says, having used partial compensation to buy land, install an underground well, and construct rental houses. Yet legal disputes with family members over ownership of the compensated land continue. “They took my land, but not my future,” he adds.

Community Resilience in the Face of Displacement

The Kitemba Munno Mukabi Farmers Group exemplifies collective recovery. Led by Chairman John Kyamani Muhwezi and Secretary Amos Rubarema, the group reorganised after the 2001 eviction. Members collectively bought land, restarted farming, and developed a savings and loan system that now supports over 70 people.

“We are farmers. We play as one. We save together. We borrow and support each other,” Rubarema says. Muhwezi emphasizes transparency and cultural dignity: “We built a group that doesn’t fall into politics or greed. We stand strong. We saw kings disrespected, women beaten in the streets. We cannot forget that.”

Struggling to Access Compensation

Not all residents have been able to benefit fully. Namubiru Margaret, 53, lost over four acres in Kasambya Cell, Kijunga Village. She received UGX 1.2 million for her personal acre and plans to start a poultry farm. Accessing compensation for her late husband’s land requires letters of administration costing UGX 630,000—a sum she cannot afford.

Ssango Bonny and Antonio Mugerwa also highlight the uneven impact of compensation. Bonny received UGX 4 million, too little to re-establish himself, while Mugerwa’s UGX 16 million allowed him to build rental units and cultivate coffee. “We accepted the money and chose not to cry over spilt milk,” Mugerwa says.

Justice Delayed but Not Denied

The Kaweri eviction of August 2001 displaced 401 families across Mubende. The land was handed to the German-owned Neumann Kaffee Gruppe without consultation or fair compensation. After years of legal battles, partial compensation began trickling in January 2025, more than two decades later.

Esther Kisembo, Project Coordinator at ActionAid Uganda, praised the collaborative fight for land justice. “This was a case of the poor suffering at the hands of the rich. People were chased from their homes, became food insecure, and lost everything. That’s why we stood with them.”

Yet challenges remain. Lawyer Kange Veronica of NETPIL notes, “There’s no interest or inflation adjustment. Payments are based on 2001 values. Some received as little as UGX 90,000.”

While some residents like Ntonino face frailty and unfulfilled needs, others are rebuilding lives, communities, and institutions. Efforts to restore Naluwondwa Playground—a symbol of collective identity—show that recovery is more than financial; it is social and cultural.

RDC Musindi Andrew Solomon emphasises fairness for future land acquisitions: “If land must be acquired, let it be done with fairness. Don’t destroy lives.”

For families like the Ntoninos, decades of struggle may finally be yielding closure, yet the scars of displacement remain visible in bodies, homes, and memories.