30 companies to lose unutilised land, UIA warns
In the spotlight. Former UIA director Jolly Kaguhangire.
Kampala. Thirty companies in Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve risk losing their land if they do not utilise it as per the guidelines, Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), has warned.
While briefing the media at their offices in Kampala yesterday, UIA executive director Jolly Kaguhangire said these companies have been given 18 months to prove that they are able to use the land to develop.
Ms Kaguhangire revealed that 52.4 acres have already been withdrawn from 10 companies that have failed to utilise their land in Namanve, while 7.5 acres have been repossessed from four companies in Soroti Industrial & Business Park.
The land was reallocated to 12 companies that are set to invest in strategic areas such as manufacturing of solar panels, processing of fruit juice and cereals, among others.
“We have managed to withdraw 52.4 acres of land from those who have not been using the land we gave them in Namanve,” she said.
She went on to say that land for investment is given for free to local investors while foreign investors can lease it.
The investors are given of period of 18 months to indicate any sign of development. The authority also gives them a period of five years before confiscating the land.
The land can be offered to an investor for up to a period of 49 years if it is fully utilised.
In August 2016, 50 companies were also put on notice by the authority for failing to utilise the allotted land within the lease period in Namanve, Wakiso. This was after a visit by the minister of State for Investment and Privatisation, Ms Evelyn Anite.
Insufficient funds
During the briefing, Ms Kaguhangire also revealed that the authority received about Shs9 billion out of Shs50 billion they had asked for from the National Budget.
This, she said, has compelled them to seek for a loan of $151 million which the authority will use to increase staffing, fund promotions and develop industrial parks around the country.
She urged the middlemen who solicit for money from foreign investors to stop the habit as it drives investors away.
Ms Kaguhangire has so far served as the executive director of UIA for three months and during this time she has licensed 76 projects that are projected to create aabout 20,000 jobs with an estimated $246 million in total investment value.
