Obote married a man who was originally from Zaire and gave birth to two daughters. Unfortunately he passed on in 1982 leaving behind 7 acres of land. Mathew Muzungu was elected as the family heir;

unfortunately he also died and a new heir Wakume Simon was put up. Wakume requested his paternal aunt (the widow) to use part of the land since he had no land and no one was using the inherited land at the time. Esther Nandase, the widow, accepted since she was not living in the area or using the piece of land and they would have someone keep it away from any encroachers. Unfortunately, this is where the problem started from.

Wakume and his wife took charge of the land and even stopped one of the daughters from using the land her father left behind. By now they had started farming and growing trees on this piece of land. Wakume’s hostility towards her using the piece of land led them to seek help from the local leaders. Unfortunately, Wakume also died and the case was left in the hands of the local leaders without a resolution. They however put a custodian to keep the land as the case went on. The custodian was granted permission to construct a house. However Wakume’s wife did not like the idea and accused him of stealing the piece of land.

In 2017 Wakume’s widow reported the matter to police accusing the custodian who had been on the piece of land for over 10 years of theft. He was arrested although he had documents to show that he could stay on the land.

The widow Obote reported the matter to the probation officer who then referred her to PLA Iganga. However she could not foot the bills causing her to lose hope in getting justice. She went to the local leader who also didn’t have much to say they however directed her to the Human Rights Advocates. The HRAs despite getting threats gathered the community, the family and wakume’s widow for mediation. Amidst them was a 100-year-old man who confirmed the history of the land. It was finally agreed that the widow of Wakume would be given time to harvest her crops and cut down the trees that she had planted on the land. The land wrangle that had lasted 37 years was finally settled with the widow and her two daughters getting back their land.

 “I am very grateful and happy because PLA helped us at no cost, may God bless the HRA and the organization at large. We will use the land to cultivate,” said the widow.