The proposed amendments to the Land Act have divided MPs from Buganda region, forcing many to stay away from Parliament where the matter is currently being debated.

Many of the Buganda MPs belong to the ruling National Resistance Movement whose parliamentary caucus has endorsed the controversial Bill.

However, with Buganda Kingdom and many of its subjects strongly opposed to the Bill, and with elections less than two years away, many MPs from the central region are staying clear of the debate in the House.

FDC's Nandala Mafabi, whose Budadiri West constituency is far away from Buganda, yesterday said his colleagues in Parliament have divided loyalties and are striking separate secret deals between the central government and the cultural institution.

We have (82) NRM Baganda MPs, but if you look around there are less than 10 present," Mr Mafabi told the House presided over by Speaker Edward Ssekandi, himself a subject of the kingdom.

Kampala Central MP Erias Lukwago, flanked by colleagues Beti Kamya (Rubaga, FDC) and Hussein Kyanjo (Makindye West, Jeema), who are all Baganda MPs in the opposition, told journalists that some MPs were supporting Buganda's position by day and undermining it by night.

"They have had several meetings with President Museveni and I can reliably tell you they are under instruction to support the Bill," he said.

The Bill has become a poisoned chalice for many Buganda MPs; supporting it could turn voters against them at the next election while opposing it is sure to turn the ruling party against them.

Tough position

With the Bill at the heart of the current stand-off between President Museveni and the Kabaka, any public comments by the Buganda MPs could be career-limiting. Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, himself a Muganda, tried to explain the absence of the Baganda MPs on limited space in the House.

However, our parliamentary reporters say many seats on the government side remained empty throughout the two days of debate on the Bill.

Prof. Nsibambi added that the NRM Caucus position in support of the Bill was binding to all party MPs irrespective of tribe.

Ms Rose Namayanja, the chairperson of Buganda NRM Caucus, told Daily Monitor that they'd held several meetings over the matter but had failed to reach consensus because different constituencies in Buganda have different land problems, requiring different solutions.

Supporters of the Bill say it protects tenants from illegal evictions but opponents say it seeks to weaken land owners, especially in Buganda.

The Land (Act) Amendment Bill, 2007, is expected to sail through Parliament where NRM has a comfortable majority but is likely to be a major issue on the campaign trail for the 2011 elections.