St Luke Catholic Chapel in Anaka Sub County in Nwoya district has been closed over a land wrangle between the church and the family of one Vinancio Ajura which alleges that the church trespassed on their land.
Ajura’s family claims they own the land on which the church was erected in the 1990’s. The family also denies that they offered the land to the church on which St Luke Catholic Chapel was erected. They add that the church was offered the land by someone who was not an owner of the property.
The family says they were displaced in Karuma then in Masindi but now in Kiryandongo district at the time their land was given away.
The parish priest Anaka Catholic parish, Father Santo Onen said the Ajura family has been at war with the church over the land.
Father One said they have consistently received threats from the family prompting him to direct for the closure of the church with effect from yesterday (Sunday, May 22, 2016).
“We don’t impose ourselves but we go where we have been accepted as mandated by Christ,’’ said Father Onen.
Mass did not take place at St Luke on Sunday yesterday.
The Father said the church leadership had written to Anaka Sub County as a lower local government to help in the resolution of the conflict.
Father Onen said the man who offered the land to the church is still alive.
He blamed the conflict with the church on ‘‘greed for money.’’
Christopher Odong, the former LCIII chairman of Anaka Sub County however said the effort to mediate over the land conflict on which the church stands failed last year.
Vinancio Ajura says he is not asking for the church to leave but that his family is unhappy with the church for encroaching in his land for 20 more metres from what they had been given in the 1990’s. His family responded by ploughing the compound of the church forcing the church to close.
4 Comments
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
Ken Obonyo, this has nothing to do with missionaries taking the land. St. Luke church is an established church which now server a community of Catholic in Nwoya. It is therefore in bad test to deny followers of Christ to gain access to a place of worship. What Mr. Vinancio Ajura has done by overreacting is wrong, he should have reported the encroachment to police.
I think Mr vinancio Ajura has done nothing wrong if the land previously given to the church excludes the 20meters land, why did the church then extend to this guys land? Some of the missions in Acholi these days are extending their borders without consultations. It’s not wright missions should put stones in their borders. There are some clergy men and women who are also using the displacement period to go overboard scooping extra land from mission borders to benefit them and their families. Example they will cultivate and encroached in it, and claim that the land belong to mission. And if you don’t claimed your land back within five years, it will automatically be theirs. It is happening to me right now as I’m writing. Don’t blame religion, but blame land grabbers with their own intentions which has nothing to do with faith.
At lease the missionaries stick within the boundary of the land donated to them. Not like nowadays of our own people. Do you get me? I hope you don’t loose your faith for this. Save your own soul and God Bless