Our land is not for sale, Kiranga clan members resolve as MP Odria’s land saga deepens
A resident speaking during the Kiranga clan meeting on Wednesday. Photo Credit; Andrew Cohen Amvesi
YUMBE – Members of the Kiranga clan in Ariwa sub-county, Yumbe district, have unanimously resolved that their 25-square-kilometer ancestral land is not for sale.
The resolution was passed during a general meeting held on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at the home of the late Peter Ondria Yali in Kiranga village, Rigbonga Parish, Ariwa sub-county.
The meeting followed a directive from the district security committee, which instructed the clan to convene and address the ongoing land dispute stemming from the purchase of land in the area by Aringa South Member of Parliament (MP), Yorke Alioni Odria.
It is alleged that Odria bought 520 acres of land in Kiranga for Shs50 million from a section of locals, sparking tension among clan members.
This prompted the district security committee to visit the contested land on March 11, 2026, after which they directed the conflicting parties to meet and reach resolutions.
In line with the directive, the clan members declared that the entire Kiranga land remains indivisible and is not for sale.
“We have unanimously agreed that Kiranga land, as it was before, is communal and not for sale. Our ancestral land is indivisible and has no landlord,” said Joseph Buga, the newly elected interim chairperson of the Kiranga Land Committee.
Buga was elected on the same day to lead the committee, alongside six other members, after the clan dissolved the previous nine-member committee headed by Yasin Aluuma.
Clan members accused the former committee leadership of facilitating the sale of communal land to MP Odria without consulting the wider clan.
Hamid Andama questioned how the Aluuma-led team could sell 520 acres to the area MP for only Shs50 million.
“In any part of this country, you can’t find an acre of land selling for less than Shs100,000, to be honest. Where do these leaders expect our children to settle in the future? For me, dissolving the committee and replacing it is a very good decision because they failed to protect our land, which is not for sale,” Andama said.
According to Buga, MP Odria first attempted to buy the land in 2022, but the clan refused.
“We kept offering him the option to rent the land, which did not interest him. It was only recently that he succeeded through the former leadership of the Kiranga land committee. However, we are yet to summon him before the clan members to discuss options for the land he acquired, because our clan land is not for sale,” Buga emphasized.
He added: “Kiranga land is one and cannot be divided among individuals. It is owned collectively by all Kiranga clan members. Kiranga land is not for sale and will never be sold, it will remain as Kiranga land. Here, we have no landlords; we only hunt, cultivate, and graze communally, so no one should claim individual ownership.”
Luciano Aluma, the chairperson of the neighboring Jika clan land committee, advised the Kiranga members to adopt their practice of renting land on an annual basis to address immediate needs, rather than selling it outright, an action that could leave future generations landless and suffering.
Efforts to obtain a comment from MP Odria on the resolution were unsuccessful over the past two days, as he did not answer repeated calls or respond to messages.
However, during the recent meeting in Kiranga, Odria explained that one reason for buying the land was to promote commercial agriculture.
“When I requested to buy this land, I told the clan members that I wanted to start a demonstration farm to enable people to learn from what I am practicing,” Odria said.
He described the emerging issues over the land as politically motivated.
“I don’t have any problem with anybody, including the village members and neighbors. But this land I have bought has become political. People are saying that the road I have started opening right from the church is aimed at grabbing the entire village land, which is a total lie,” Odria said.
“You are all here—have you ever heard that I came here as your MP and evicted anybody?” Odria asked, as some members raised their hands in the affirmative.