Bukoba residents accuse police of collusion in land dispute

BUKOMANSIMBI | Residents of Bukoba village in Bukomansimbi Town Council have raised serious allegations against officers at Bukomansimbi Police Station, accusing them of colluding with a wealthy and educated persons to unlawfully seize land from a fellow resident.

The community is in uproar, claiming that the police have turned a blind eye to the fraudulent activities of Abdul Nsimbe, who they say has been harassing Annet Bukirwa and her family.

The controversy centres around a piece of land that Bukirwa allegedly purchased from her father, Mzee Ddumba, at Shs5 million. Ddumba later sold the land to Nsimbe after Bukirwa married to a Muslim against her father's consent.

However, in a twist of events, it is claimed that Bukirwa later disguised herself as a woodcutter and sold the land to Nsimbe.

The details of this transaction remain murky, but the villagers are steadfast in their belief that Nsimbe has employed dubious means to claim ownership.

Residents have reported to the police that Nsimbe has subjected Bukirwa to various forms of abuse, including locking her inside the house with the aim of burning her and her children, spoiling her food, and vandalizing her property.

One resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "We have seen Nsimbe harass Bukirwa repeatedly. He has locked her up without reason, destroyed her crops, and even damaged her toilet. It's unbearable."

Despite these reports, the police officers from the office of the CID lead by William Baluku and a one Samson, who went to the village to do some investigations have dismissed the claims, suggesting instead that recent heavy rains were responsible for the damage to Bukirwa's toilet and her crops.

This response has only fuelled the villagers' anger and suspicion.

"The police are clearly protecting Nsimbe," residents said. "They are letting him torture our neighbour without any repercussions. This is a clear conspiracy to steal her land but we as the village will not accept this to happen."

However, police pinned residents for failing to go to police to make statements to incriminate Nsimbe.

The situation took a darker turn when Bukirwa's children, who were found preparing a meal at their home, revealed that their mother is currently in jail.

"We are pleading for mercy and justice. We went to the police for help, but they ignored us," they said.

"Nsimbe is always disgusting us, that we are poor, we can't win him and last time he wanted to burn us inside the house. And yesterday, the police came for our mother until now we don’t know where she is because they even denied us access to see her."

The children claimed that their father their father fled the village when he was tired of being mistreated by Nsimbi and Bukomansimbi police.

The Nile Post could not independently verify the claims.

However, Mr Nsimbe denied all the allegations, saying Bukirwa and her children and residents are the ones who are mistreating him.

Ddumba, Bukirwa’s father, said he has never sold his kibanja to her daughter.

"She just borrowed it when she came back home after getting a misunderstanding with her husband," he said.

The Bukomansimbi Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Fred Kalema, has assured the community that the matter will be thoroughly investigated.

"We are committed to ensuring that justice is served. Bukirwa and her children deserve a fair resolution, and we will address these allegations of police misconduct and land fraud," she said.