Court blocks Kyambogo land developer
A perimeter fence surrounds the land contested by Kyambogo University and two developers. Court yesterday stopped any further development on the land. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
Land grabbing. University administrators say the land was illegally parceled out of the university’s mother title deed without their knowledge.
Kampala- The High Court in Kampala has issued an interim order stopping developments on two controversial plots of land owned by Kyambogo University.
University administrators claim the land was illegally parceled out of the university’s mother title deed without their knowledge.
The August 28 interim order that was issued by Assistant Registrar Eleanor Khianza will stay in force until the hearing and disposal of the substantive suit.
The land dispute arose last year when Kyambogo University went to court challenging the acquisition of the plots by the developers.
The contested land is on plots 61, 63 Kyambogo Road, measuring 0.173 hectares. It overlooks the university main entrance and is adjacent the Uganda National Examinations Board printery department.
Daily Monitor has learnt from reliable sources that the developer has already secured a title deed for the piece of land in the names of Albino Ijum.
The developer is reported to have acquired the land in 2010 without the knowledge of the university administration.
A copy of a land title seen by this newspaper indicates that the developer got an initial lease of five years from the Uganda Land Commission which expires on June 30, 2015, but it could be extended for more 49 years.
Despite the land title being in the names of Mr Ijum, another developer, Mr Petua Kateeba, who claims to be the landlord, wrote to university secretary Sam Akorimo on July 10, 2013, saying he was in the process of developing the land.
By the time court issued the injunction, the developers had begun erecting a perimeter wall around the piece of land.
University administrators have severally distanced the institution from the transactions, saying they only learnt of the subdivision of the land in 2012 after the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) returned the mother title deed to them.
The ULC had reportedly got the title to enable the Ministry of Education acquire its own title .
The Education ministry owns 10 acres on the university land where it plans to erect its headquarters.
