Monday, May 17, 2010

There is need to establish the actual areas of each part of Uganda be it the regions like Buganda or the districts

There is need to establish the actual areas of each part of Uganda be it the regions like Buganda or the districts. For example, why do we keep talking about 9,000sq miles of land as claimed by Buganda among what the Obote Government took, when in actual fact the land is less in acreage? According to A History of Uganda and Surveys by H B Thomas Obbi and E A Spencer, when the final survey was done, the land left as crown land only came to 8,260sqmiles. The Intelligence War Office in London headed by Lt. Col. Sir J R Mackdonald estimated Buganda to be 19,600square miles.
Part of the 1900 Buganda agreement says, "After a careful survey has been made, if the total found to be less than 19,600sqm, then that portion (9000) of the country to be vested in Her Majesty's Government shall be reduced in the extent by the deficiency found to exist in the estimated area."
When the survey which was interrupted by the 1st World War was finally done in 1937 the actual size of Buganda was found to be 17,310sqm. This meant that the estimated 9,000sqm had to suffer deficiency reducing it by 2,290sqm. According to the surveyors led by Sergeant Major E. Vaughn, assisted by W V Morris who started the survey early October 1902, the size of Buganda was in fact 17,301.
The Buganda Agreement, referred to in documents as Uganda (Kingdom agreement) signed on 10th March 1900 was signed on behalf of the then infant king Daudi Chwa by his three regents, Apollo Kaggwa; Zakaria Kisingiri and Stanislus Mugwanya.
The breakdown of the total land area of Buganda as shared out in the agreement is contained in article 15. "Assuming the area of Buganda amounts to 19,600sqm, it shall be divided in the following proportions:
1. Forests - 1,500 sqm;
2. Her Majesty's Government under the control of Uganda Administration 9,000sqm;
3. His Highness the Kabaka of Uganda - 350sqm;
4. Namasole (the King's mother) - 16sqm;
5. Mother of Mwanga - 10sqm;
6. Princes (Abalangira) – 32sqm;
7. Aba'masaza (county chiefs) – 160sqm;
8. Official estates attached to the posts of the Aba'masaza – 160sqm;
9. The regents each got 32sqm totaling - 96sqm;
10. Mbogo family – 24sqm;
11. Kamuswaga of Koki – 20sqm;
12. One thousand Chiefs – 8,000sqm;
13. Christian Churches – 92sqm;
14. Government stations: Kampala; Entebbe; Masaka; Mubende and Njeru – 50sqm.

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