Senior Presidential Advisor on Defence and Security Gen Caleb Akandwanaho alias Salim Saleh has dismised claims he is involved in land grabbing acts , noting that some people just dont understand his work.
Addressing CEOs under the Presidential CEO Forum (PCF) as they toured Kapeeka Industrial Park, Gen Saleh said his mission has always been to transform and develop land for productivity and community benefit, not to dispossess people.
“For me, I am not a land grabber. I am a land developer. I am an expert in land development,” he said.
He shared that he’s so passionate about developing land.
“My job is to convert land whether it is conflicted or free from being a liability into an asset.”
Responds to Bobi
Gen. Saleh also responded to NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi who accused him of grabbing land while he campaigned in the area.
“Kyali wange Kyagulanyi(My friend Kyagulanyi) went around saying I am a land grabber. But we both had beaches—his in Busabala, mine in Garuga. When the spirit of Kapeeka came, I sold mine and moved here. So I don’t understand him, because in terms of land, he may even be a bigger grabber than me,” Saleh said.
He expressed frustration with members and leaders of NRM for failure to defend him when he is branded a land grabber in public discourse.
At the same time, he praised DP President Norbert Mao, saying he is among the few Ugandans who have taken time to understand and appreciate his development philosophy instead of engaging in populist criticism.
He however rallied financial institutions to revive and operationalize the Kyapa Loan, a land acquisition financing model initially designed under the Ministry of Finance but abandoned in its infancy.
“This Kyapa loan is the most liberating tool that you banks can help us achieve. Because of contradictions in land governance, you find landlords holding conflicted land and wanainchi with no title. The moment you give a man just an inch of land title, the next day he builds a permanent house,” he emphasized.
He revealed that PostBank, which had initially piloted the loan, only served 3,383 clients with a total portfolio of just Shs12.8 billion, a figure he described as insignificant compared to the scale of land distress in Uganda.
“Stanbic, Absa, DFCU—you are here. I am asking directly, let us work together and actualize this Kyapa Loan,” he appealed.
Reflecting on his journey from farming to industrial transformation, Saleh said he once believed that his maize fields in Kapeeka were the height of success—until revolutionary thinking shifted his vision.
“I used to look at my maize garden and think that was the end of the world. But after reading ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ when I was 18, something stayed with me. That book made me question why land remains idle when it can be a tool for liberation,” he said.
He said that in a bold move that shocked even his family, Gen. Saleh handed 1,280 acres of his land to investors—for just one dollar.
“People thought I had lost my mind. But I was thinking like a guerrilla. Once the factories were built, they couldn’t shift them. That is how you leverage land to attract investment,” he explained.
Today, that land is home to one of Uganda’s most successful industrial parks, with over 15 factories and thousands of jobs created.
Despite the success of Kapeeka, Gen. Saleh insists that industrialization alone cannot defeat household poverty.
“Even if you build 25 industrial parks, they will not touch household poverty unless you unlock land for the people. That is why Kyapa Loan must work,” he said.
He revealed that 824 acres behind the park have already been deconflicted, and 301 beneficiaries have built permanent homes—proof, he said, that the model works.
“If in 10 years you pay off the landlord and give the wanainchi a title, development takes shape faster than any government program,” he noted.
Gen. Saleh warned that the gap between science, government policy, and private sector financing remains a major barrier to transformation.
“The private sector produces wealth. Banks must align with them. Scientists have knowledge but no commercialization path. There is a disconnection. We need all forces working together,” he urged.
He urged CEOs to pass a formal resolution committing banks to design a Kyapa Loan product that unlocks land, titles, housing, and production for millions of Ugandans trapped under the Bibanja system.
