Just four months after being investigated for irregularities in the procurement a piece of land at Plot 5 Serunkuma Road Mbuya for the planned construction of Governor’s residence, Uganda’s Central Bank is in trouble again and may land some top officials in jail.
Masaka district leaders are up in arms with with the Bank of Uganda governor and have halted the construction of the BoU currency centre alleging unlawful acquisition of golf course land. The land in question is located between Tropic Inn Hotel, Masaka State Lodge and Golf Lane Hotel.
The Masaka district chairperson, Jude Mbabaali, insists the land belongs to the Uganda Golf Union and was fraudulently acquired but Godfrey Kayemba, the Masaka Mayor claims that the municipality approved the construction after changing the user for this land because Golf as a sport is dead in Masaka.
He claims council leaders leased the land to a businessman in the 1990s for the construction of a hotel, he failed to do so and subsequently parceled part of it out to Bank of Uganda.
This week local leaders led by Bukoto East MP Florence Namayanja, stormed the construction site rowdy youths started pulling down the fence erected around the disputed land. They also threatened to lynch the construction workers forcing them to flee.
A lorry carrying poles was stopped at the entrance and the drivers forced to relocate their poles elsewhere.
MP Namayanja asked the contractors to explain why they did not put up sign posts displaying all details about the contract if they are transparent.
Namayanja also said if indeed the land was allocated, whoever did it will take personal liability of refunding the money.
URN says the Deputy Director Communications Kelvin Kiyingi Kizito declined to comment on the matter. He said in a telephone interview that he could not speak because he was driving. ” We will talk later, am driving yet there are traffic officers just here,” Kizito said.
Bank of Uganda has ten currency centres in Arua, Fort Portal, Gulu, Jinja, Kabale, Kampala, Masaka, Mbale, Mbarara and the one in Lira that is set to be built at the former post office land which is part of Lira mayor’s garden.
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