By Our Reporter
TORORO
Sylvia Damalie Owor, the Director of Operation Wealth Creation has once again found herself at the center of another big land grabbing scandal involving over 15 families in the Western division of Tororo Municipality.
Sylvia is claiming ownership of a land comprised on plot 8 B along Busia road next to Agururu primary school in Agururu B2 village in Western division of Tororo Municipality.
She claims the land measuring 6.5 acres belonged to her late father George William Owor who acquired it in 1976.
The families currently occupying the land include among others Odoi Felix, Owor Ema, and Namubiru Fatuma, Novo enterprises / Mitesh Doshi, Birungi Esther, Ajore Anne Eliza and Odoi Simon.
Others include Musa Nsangi, Emun John, Dr. Edirisa, Maria Apoya, Odeke Ismail, Juma Seyyid and one Anyango among others.
Majority of the above mentioned residents have not only surveyed but also have developments on it.
Sylvia Owor is also involved in another land wrangle over 90 acres of land in Nyakesi “E’ village in Nyagole sub county Tororo District.
Last Sunday, Sylvia reportedly through her agent Ojulo George, the area defense secretary convened what they termed a security meeting at Agururu primary school, but in real sense the meeting was meant to organize a demonstration and generate fake minutes from the local residents to confirm that she is the owner of the land.
According to sources, Sylvia funded the meeting clandestinely through Ojulo but it failed to achieve its purpose because the area LC1 Chairperson and majority of the resident in the meeting s insisted that whoever claims his/her land was grabbed should go to court.
Also strangely, it was noticed that majority of the people who attended the security meeting were hired, paid and ferried from neighboring villages of Eastern division and Osukuru to come and cook minutes that can help her in the fight to take over this land.
Last year, Sylvia attempted to convert the said land on Busia road from customary to freehold but the process was rejected by the area land committee for Western Division in Tororo Municipality headed by Okoth Roman George.
The land committee recommended that the said land was already surveyed and developed by the occupants, something that didn’t go down well with Sylvia.
According to the committee, it was established that Sylvia Owor doesn’t own any piece of land and not even a registered portfolio of the said land.
Nyachwo Everlyn, the area LC1 Chairperson of Agururu B2 Village accused Sylvia of using short cuts and illegal means to pursue her course including bribing residents in the area to support her illegal activities.
Nyachwo who is the immediate neighbor to the disputed land said Sylvia abandoned her office and started using her defense secretary Ojulo George immediately she refused to manipulate things in her favor.
She also advised Sylvia to stop using her military guards to intimidate and harass her residents and above all, she should stop trespassing and disrupting ongoing developments on peoples land.
However the affected residents have vowed not to be cowed and accused Sylvia of misusing state mercenaries to forcefully attempt to grab their land.
Emun John, a retired police officer and one of the affected persons inquired where Sylvia has been for over four decades wondering whether she was in exile or she has just returned from the spiritual world.
Odoi Felix, an Administrator at Special Plan Primary school in Tororo Municipality and born on the same land in 1960s accused Sylvia of racism, intimidation, thuggery and manipulation in a bid to grab their land.
Odoi reminded Sylvia that there have been several court cases that were won by respective previous land owners and he advised her to first go and challenge those cases before she starts disturbing the current occupants.
Odoi whose father owned part of the said land since 1950s said Sylvia is discriminative in her demand while singling out Novo enterprises, something that makes the whole claim a suspect and witch hunt.
He advised Sylvia to stop wasting her energies on Novo enterprises but she should focus first on the previous owners including Hussein Mwangu and Dr. Nimrode Okuna who acquired the title and later sold it to Novo enterprise.
Mitesh Doshi, one of the Directors of Novo Enterprise Limited and an enterprising local investor is currently undertaking the construction of a regional depot on the same piece of land but disruptions, intimidation and harassment by Sylvia has slowed down the project since its inception last year.
The project is currently in phase one employing over 60 people and upon completion, it will not only employ over 150 local people but also improve on security and spur development in the area.
Mitesh among all the affected has faced the worst from Sylvia including threat to his life through phone messages and calls. The investor is seeking not only protection for his life but also his investments.
Sylvia has threatened to deal with him severely and this has forced him to leave in fear following the gun violence that has rocked the country in the recent past.
She has also been tormenting the other affected residents through intimidation and harassment by use of his armed security guards.
The OWC Director has avoided following other legally laid down procedures to pursue he course but has opted to use crude methods such as holding late night meetings at Rock Classic hotel Tororo mobilizing, boozing and bribing goons and some elders in the area not only to demonize but also planned to demonstrate that they don’t want the local investor in their area.
The district security committee including the RDC, DPC and Regional Police Commander have advised Sylvia to follow the laid down procedures to pursue her course but she has developed cold feet over that and continued applying crude methods through the deputy RDC Amula Albert.
On 27th/ August/ 2023, Sylvia Owor petitioned the Resident District Commissioner Tororo, Owole Nickson to help her intervene in the matter claiming area leaders including the police have been compromised.
She claims the land in question was heavily encroached on and some trespassers have illegally put up structures and even acquired title for plots 143-146, Busia road and plots 28-30 Katandi road.
She however requested the office of the RDC to intervene by organize meeting with some of the people on the land with a view of sorting out the issue amicably.
Among the people she wanted to interface with included Mitesh Doshi of Novo enterprise, Juma Seyyid, Bogere Matia, Emun John and Maria Apoya among others.
However, only Juma and Apoya responded and attended the meeting that was convened on 3rd/August/2023 in RDC’S office and chaired by the RDC Owole Nickson.
During the interface with the RDC, Juma acting on behalf of all the affected residents said they followed the laid down procedure to acquire the land including a willing buyer/willing seller.
Juma, a seasoned Journalist told Sylvia that by the time they were purchasing the land she is claiming, it had no dispute or encumbrance and challenged her to go to court.
He assured her that they have nothing to negotiate in a civil matter that can only be resolved by court.
“We are all Ugandans irrespective of our status or color and contribute to the nation’s building. No one is special or above the law. In this particular case, all of us are protected by the constitution and the land act as amended. My sister Sylvia claims her life is under threat and doesn’t want to be murdered like her late father. Am shocked that she can also cry. Instead it’s her who is using her military guards and office to intimidate and harass us. We have evidence including audio recordings and pictorial to that effect. I think the court is the only best place for all of us. Your actions is time wasting and has caused us a lot of inconvenience, mental anguish and disrupted our ongoing projects. We shall never succumb to any of your unbecoming behaviors because we are all protected by the law,” Juma assured Sylvia before the RDC.
He also warned Sylvia against disrupting the investment being put in place by Novo enterprises accusing her of being an enemy of development.
However, the meeting in the RDC’s office resolved that the status-quo be maintained since his office has no powers to stop any development going on the land unless the court directs.
Owole advised Sylvia to continue engaging those who want to amicably resolve the issue and she should go to court for those who refused.
He also appealed to both parties to maintain peace and security and desist from any move that is likely to lead to criminality.
But despite the directions from the RDC’s office, Sylvia has become adamant and continued with her clandestine move using the area defense secretary, Ojulo to incite a section of the population to cause mayhem.
