Church Land: Authorities in Gulu city want Church of Uganda to invest in real estate business.

Robert Ojok

Gulu

Gulu city authorities have requested church of Uganda to develop available church land that has for long been hideouts of criminal. The piece of land measuring to about 2-square kilometers located in mican sub word, bardege-layibi division is partly being used by lay readers and priests.

The mayor of Bardege-Layibi city division Patrick Oola Lumumba who was among thousands of Christians gathered during the pastoral visits of Archbishop Dr. Stephen Samuel Kazimba Mugalu says, the church can invest in real estate business to spar development in the area, According to Lumumba, the area used to have a diary farm that would supply milk to the entire municipality but currently being used for peasantry farming. “This land covering almost a ward in the city can be used for urban investment like real estate business with rentals” Lumumba added.

The mayor of Gulu city Alfred Okwonga reveals robust infrastructural development plans for the city on-going like connecting water from Karuma to the city and electricity connections from Olwiyo in Nwoya, Kole and Aswa in Pader to Gulu main transformer. According to Okwonga, all these socio-economic infrastructures is aimed at improving lives in fulfillment of sustainable development goals III. There are reported cases of grabbing part of that land by neighboring communities. The Archbishop Stephen Kazimba condemned the act of grabbing church lands in northern Uganda.

The Archbishop however implored people to use dialogue because sometimes the grandchildren claims for land that they don’t know the boundaries and its imperatively right to dialogue instead of grabbing church land. In 2019, diocese of Northern Uganda offered part of the land for the construction of a bulk market but the former Gulu municipal council failed to raise premium of 150-million shillings to pay for the lease.