Members of Parliament have summoned the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) over the sale of Nsambya and Port Bell land belonging to Uganda Railways Corporation.
The parliamentary committee on commissions statutory authority and state enterprises (COSASE) chaired by Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi was on Thursday meeting with officials from URC over the management of their assets including land all over the country.
Sarah Nambasa, URC corporation secretary was tasked to explain how the 57 acres of land were given to 10 investors including Janet Kobusingye the owner of Mestil Hotel, Charles Kimera, Islamic University, House of Dawda, CTM Uganda Limited, Access Uganda Limited and Yas Company.
Others are; Alumus Properties, M/S Fairplay Services limited and Kampala International University among others in 2010. The land that stretches from Mukwano factory up to Mestil Hotel was allocated to investors in compensation of investors who had been erroneously been allocated the Naguru-Nakawa estate land.
The committee noted that URC did not follow the procurement process but followed a presidential directive and cabinet decision that land is given to these investors. However, the committee was shocked to learn those 10 years later, URC has never been paid Shs 69.5 billion for the 57 acres of land taken away.
According to Stanley Sendegeya, the managing director of URC, although they gave out the land to ULC, they have not been paid.
“For us, URC we were promised to be paid in writing by the minister of Finance by then, and we have been following up payment from that time to date. The money has not been paid and the money we’re demanding is Shs 69.5bn…We were directed to give away the land, the acres you mentioned, they have the minister’s promise according to this directive surrender this land that we’re going to pay you so much money as stated on record…” Sendegeya said.
Nambasa told the committee that they cannot explain the sale of the land, adding that the Privatisation Unit is best to answer. She said they transferred the land to Uganda Land Commission which made the allocations.
She also told the committee regarding the Port Bell land where the ships dock, the land was mortgaged, and they are in court trying to recover it from National Housing.
Ssenyonyi says that they are concerned with the criteria used to select the beneficiaries of the Nsambya land and how National Housing took charge of Port Bell land. They have summoned the Uganda Land Commission and the Privatization Unit and the 10 landowners who occupy the land in Nsambya and Port Bell.
“We have numerous concerns about how URC land was parcelled out because that is public land…There is a lady called Janet Kobusingye and son – that is the proprietor of Mestil Hotel, she was given 5.8 acres. The total land at Nsambya that was given away is 57 acres. That money should have been collected, we don’t know if it was because the people who should have received that money URC, they did not get that money. So they have been reaching out to ministry of Finance to say; look these are our properties, they were sold, we want this money. So the money has not come through. We do not know who took this money but we’re also bothered about the process of selling this property, PPDA regulations were not followed in most of these properties,” said Ssenyonyi.
URC officials also implicated businessman Patrick Bitature in the illegal land acquisitions of land. Bitature reportedly used his company Simba Properties to obtain two illegal leases which are in the process of being cancelled.
