Ssebaggala evicted from KCCA Nakasero Residence

Police closes gates to the disputed country residence. Photo by Geoffrey Sseruyange

Former Mayor Al Haji Nasser Ntege Ssebaggala has been forced to vacate the Town Clerk’s residence in upscale Nakasero suburb, which he had claimed ownership of on grounds that he had incurred heavy costs in renovating it.

Ssebaggala had gone on to claim that he had received a go-ahead from President Museveni to convert the residence into his personal living space.

The disputed residence had been under heavy Police guard since Friday morning and at some point during the stand off, Ssebaggala was seen driving out in a tinted car and a security source intimated to Daily Monitor he had gone to seek audience with President Museveni about his impending eviction from the Nakasero residence.

Efforts to effect the order for Ssebaggala to vacate the house had begun early Friday. To have the exercise done without difficult, Kampala Metropolitan Director ,Grace Turyagumanawe, Kampala Metropolitan South Commander ,Moses Kafeero and some City law enforcement officers had engaged Sebaggala in a closed door meeting at the residence before the latter stormed out in protest.

The meeting which began at 1pm lasted for an hour. Neither Turyagumanawe nor Kafeero were willing to speak about what had transpired in the meeting insisting at that point that negotiations were still on-going to have Ssebaggala voluntarily vacate the residence. The duo went ahead and ordered curious journalists to stop taking pictures of the house before they were chased out of the compound of the residence.

Mr Ssebaggala, who served as Kampala city mayor from 2006 to 2010 before handing over to Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago relocated to the residence on Plot 1 Ssezibwa road in 2007 to pave way for the refurbishment of the mayor’s parlour at City Hall . However, he has since claimed ownership of the premises –a move vehemently opposed by the Kampala Capital City Authority executive director Jennifer Musisi Semakula and Lukwago.

Initially, the posh residence adjacent to Nakasero Primary School had served as the Town Clerk’s residence. Ssebaggala insists that he acquired the property which sits on a two –acre piece of land while still mayor and is yet to pay Sh4.6 billion as premium.

Ssebaggala says a government valuer gave him a green light to pay the market value of the premises as a sitting tenant. Last year, President Yoweri Museveni advised city council through the former town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu to hand over the controversial residence to Ssebaggala. But Lukwago has since vowed to fight hard to return the property to KCCA saying his predecessor was illegally occupying it.

Currently, KCCA spends at least Shs 8 million per month on the Mayor and Executive Director’s accommodation.
This is the second KCCA officials’ residence to be given away under unclear circumstances after the official mayoral residence on Plot 2 on Mabua Road in Kololo, another posh city suburb was given to the coordinator of intelligence services, Gen. David Tinyefuza for “security reasons”.