The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has defended Maj. Gen. Daniel Kakono following a report by the family of the late Tito Byangire to President Yoweri Museveni over a disputed 2,400-acre piece of land in Kapaapi, Kigorobya County, Hoima District.
The family reportedly accused Kakono, the Commander of the UPDF Field Artillery Division, of engineering the alleged unlawful allocation of the land. The complaint was highlighted in Weekend and prompted a response from the UPDF.
In a statement issued on September 26, UPDF spokesperson Col. Chris Magezi rejected the accusation, saying the military deployment to the area was not intended to facilitate the allocation of the land but to help maintain security amid a long-running dispute involving the Byangire family and more than 1,000 bibanja-holder households.
Magezi said hundreds of occupants were allegedly evicted from the land in early 2023. He claimed that homes were burnt, animals killed or looted and cases of rape and assault were reported, with some security personnel allegedly implicated. The UPDF said the incidents were being investigated.
According to the UPDF, then State Minister for Lands Dr Sam Mayanja directed in October 2025 that the evicted bibanja holders and project-affected persons be resettled on the land and that security agencies protect them.
Magezi said the Hoima District Police Commander, through the District Security Committee chaired by the Resident District Commissioner, subsequently requested reinforcement from the UPDF to prevent violence.
The request was approved, and Kakono was cleared to deploy troops to the area, according to the UPDF.
The military maintains that its continued presence is intended to secure the area and prevent further violence while the competing claims over the land remain unresolved.
The dispute has also drawn a warning from Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who publicly defended Kakono.
In a post on X, Muhoozi warned people whom he said were “trying to fight” Kakono, saying: “Life is going to be very difficult for you soon. I will fall on you like a tonne of bricks!”
The warning came amid renewed public attention to Kakono’s role in the deployment of troops to the disputed land.
The UPDF’s position is that Kakono acted with the knowledge and approval of the military leadership after a request for security support from police. However, questions surrounding ownership of the land and the circumstances of the earlier evictions remain unresolved. A separate report has also documented an earlier security incident involving police and UPDF personnel in the area, underscoring the tensions surrounding the dispute.
The UPDF has not indicated when the soldiers will withdraw, saying their presence will continue as long as necessary to prevent an outbreak of violence.
The central dispute now involves competing claims between the Byangire family and more than 1,000 bibanja holders, while the family’s complaint to President Museveni has brought renewed scrutiny to Kakono’s role in the security deployment.
