72 YEAR OLD WIDOW IN PAIN AS CITY ENGINEER THREATENS HER LIFE OVER LAND

Trees and a house that has stayed for over 20 years destroyed in a day

By Dramadri Federick
 
Arua City
 
The LC2 Chairman of Oreku ward together with his cousin brother who is Arua City Engineer are on the spot for allegedly threatening a widow and aiding destructions to property worth millions of shillings over protracted land conflict in Arua City.
 
Land documents dated July 5, 1987 indicate that Clare Bako (Landlord) a 72 year old widow and a resident in Oreku ward under Ayivu division in Arua city bought land measuring 130 meters by 40 meters from Filista Druwa at a cost of 140,000 shilling that was given to Druwa by the great grandparents of Robert Dratiga the LC 2 Chairman of Oreku ward.
 
Bako upon settling on her land in 1988 alleged that she planted avocado fruits to clearly indicate the borderline and commenced construction of her first building in 1999.
Later around 2000s, she gave portion of the land to her daughter Stella Eyotaru to construct a hut for her hotel business, however, Robert Dratiga and his cousin brother Simon Afimani an Engineer in Arua city who are the neighboring landlords are alleged to have mobilized youths to uproot the avocado plantations and demolished the structures as they extended their borders about three meters into Bako’s land.
 
“it was on 8th March, 2025 when the owner of crystal Pub (Afimani Simon) came to call on me and said that he wanted to establish a wall fence, he started measuring the land from the mark stone by the roadside and decided to take it straight down about 3 meters which passed through my daughter’s hut, the two huge plantations of avocado trees and he asked me how much do I need for the properties I told him I can’t allow the destruction since that is not on his plot. On Tuesday 11th March, 2025 he then came with his workers and started cutting down the tress ordering me and my daughter to stop talking about it.”
 
Bako is now living in fear and pain. According to her in a meeting where her daughter Eyotaru was away for her duties in Terego, the complaining parties threatened her to leave the land or else they will take it by force.

“I asked them, does it mean that building a wall fence should go straight? Dratiga and Afimani said no, that is how it is supposed to be and now that the string they had tied passed through the avocadoes and the payot (a small hut used for hotel services) they have to be removed, there were many youths who had intentions of harming us most especially if they had found my daughter home that they would kill her, they were just abusing me saying that I bought the land illegally. I don’t know what would have happened if my daughter was to be around, the way how the crystal pub owner (Afimani Simon)who is also an engineer in Arua city and his cousin brother (Dratiga Simon) the real owner of the land were talking was threatening and shocking as if they wanted to kill.”
 
Stella Eyotaru the daughter to Bako reveals that after her mother completing the construction of their house in 1990, it was about 20 years when the landlord and the brother commenced constructing the crystal pub.
 
Adding that in 2016 she constructed the house for her hotel in the presence of the two neighbors after customers demanding for the establishment since she was supplying food to Arua district local government.
 
According to Eyotaru since her food supply is not on daily basis, Afimani the city engineer kept bringing in her customers and they didn’t want anyone to ask not knowing that they had ill intention of grabbing the land. As developments went on, Eyotaru recounts the amount of threats she is experiencing on daily basis.
 
“My heart is bleeding, I always get insults from the youths, abusing me and saying all those words they wish, the LC 2 doesn’t want to see me close to him or even passing via the crystal pub, so personally I feel we need justice such that in future we don’t get such kind of intimidations and threats over the same piece of land.”
 
Bako Clare filed a case of malicious damage and Criminal Trespass at Arua central police station under General Inquiry file 13/2/25
 
In 2019 while surveying her land, the parties complaining now where present evidenced by the signatures and the report form the Area Land Committee of Manibe Sub County indicated that there was no complaint over the land.
 
THE ACCUSED SPEAK OUT

Robert Dratiga explains that her grandfather had instructed his father not to disturb the peace of Bako’s family. He argues that the avocadoes were not planted by Bako as alleged and they wanted to extend their boundaries for the purposes of establishing a wall fence and that the destructions came due to resistance from Eyotaru who decided to report the matter to Arua Resident city commissioner who sent police officers alleging that we had trespassed on the land.
 
Dratiga who lend portion of his land to Simon Afimani for the construction of Crystal pub admits that they erred in causing destructions, he however ignores that fact that they threatened Bako’s family.
 
“I convened a family meeting and meeting resolved that the trees be removed and the payot be demolished and only that the hut be compensated upon discussing with my brother and we had planned to give her 500,000 shillings and I don’t think they should be coming to launch a case about it, because first of all our great grand parents gave the land free and Druwa decided to sell to Bako without our knowledge.”
 
However our efforts to get a response from Simon Afimani the proprietor of crystal pub who is also an engineer in Arua city went futile as several phone called made to him didn’t go through.
 
In Uganda, the Land Act (Cap 227) and the Penal Code Act (Cap 120) address criminal trespass, with the Penal Code defining it as a misdemeanor punishable by a prison term of one year.