Minister admits signing off Kololo SS land giveaway
Minister Charles Bakkabulindi
What you need to know:
For the good of all. Mr Bakkabulindi insists he acted in public interest
Parliament.
Sports State minister Charles Bakkabulindi yesterday admitted to having sanctioned a land deal in which tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia acquired a 99-year lease to re-develop Kololo Secondary School’s playground into a modern sports complex.
Mr Bakkabulindi, who stood by his September 2, 2013 letter giving a no-objection to the deal, made this confession before Parliament’s Select Committee investigating city schools’ land takeover.
He said his letter of no-objection was “purely for sporting reasons” since it was in line “with our development goals” for sports in schools in Uganda.
Testifying before the committee, the minister said whatever decisions he took his colleague, the Minister for Kampala, Mr Frank Tumwebaze, was in the know and approved of them.
He said Mr Tumwebaze “also knew about Mr Ruparelia’s application for a lease to redevelop the sports ground into a modern sports complex for the community in the area”.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Tumwebaze said: “My letter was self-explanatory and it was not a directive to anybody. I was giving an opinion in my capacity as Kampala minister.
In my letter to Sudhir (Mr Ruparelia), I said re-developing Kololo SS land is a good idea as long as the project remains a sports facility and other schools can access it. I added that it would be inappropriate if the same land was leased out to any developer, Sudhir inclusive, for any other purpose other than sports.”
Mr Tumwebaze explained that in his letter of August 20, he advised Mr Ruparelia to consult with other key stakeholders such as Uganda Land Commission and Ministry of Education and Sports, among others, to seek their technical input on the same land and further assess the suitability of the project.
Information before the committee shows that after the Ministry of Education granted Mr Ruparelia a no-objection, Uganda Land Commission gave him a conditional lease after he promised to redevelop the land into a modern sports complex accessed to the public including Kololo SS.
The MPs led by Mr Robert Migadde (Buvuma Islands), however, questioned the minister for failure to consult the school before giving a letter of no-objection to the deal to which Mr Bakkabulindi explained that his letter was copied to Uganda Land Commission, being the registered proprietors and custodian of the said land.
