Government to pay Shs56b for fake land titles

Disputed. A section of Namanve Forest Reserve in Wakiso District. Government will compensate some title holders in the reserve ahead of various projects. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Issue. The 600 disputed land titles were issues in October 2014.

KAMPALA.

The Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters has discovered that the land titles belonging to private companies and individuals seeking compensation over land earmarked for the construction of two power lines have never been registered by Lands ministry.
The commission yesterday heard that government is slated to pay more than Shs56b in compensation to title holders, issued in protected reserves including Mugomba Forest Reserve, Gunda Forest Reserve, Nambigirwa Wetland, Namanve Forest reserve and Bukasa wetland and part of Lake Victoria near Entebbe in Wakiso District.
It is alleged that at least 600 land titles were fraudulently issued to various companies and individual proprietors leading to encroachment on natural reserves.
The Wakiso District senior physical planner, Ms Ruth Nakatudde Galabuzi, yesterday said she had checked in the information system and records but could not trace the land titles in question.
“As a section of natural resources department in the district, we are not aware of the documents,” she said.

Government projects
Ms Galabuzi made the revelation while appearing before the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led team.
The areas were earmarked for the construction of Mutundwe-Entebbe, Namanve-Luzira and Mukono-Iganga power lines, Jinja Expressway, Southern Bypass, Bukasa Inland port and the Standard Gauge Railway. According to the valuation report presented to the land probe, the title holders with multiple tracts of land include Logic Real Estate and developments owned by businessman Ephraim Ntaganda, his brother Cedric Nsongoza, High Court Judge Joseph Murangira, Emmanuel Gasana, Hood Ssemuga, Barbara Nalubega, Martin Kulaigye, Godfrey Kabogoza and Ismail Kijjambu. Also in the protected areas are former minister of State for Economic Monitoring Henry Banyenzaki who owns Miami Beach in Luzira and businessmen Hassan Basajjabalaba.
It is alleged that the disputed land titles were issued in October 2014, months after the expiry of the valuation schedule and super-imposed onto the strip map for the corridor earmarked for the construction of the power line.
Electricity transmission firm, Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited, petitioned the land probe claiming that the construction of the electricity transmission lines has since stalled due to claims for compensation by the purported developers. The power lines will distribute electricity from the newly constructed Isimba and Karuma dams to various industrial parks.