Privatisation Unit petitions IGG, Attorney General on disputed land

Jinja. Privatisation Unit (PU) officials have petitioned the Inspector General of Government and the Attorney General to halt construction works on a disputed piece of land in Jinja Town.
The commercial building on plots 60-62 on Alidina Road was demolished on January 16 under unclear circumstances.
The building, which had been under the control of the PU under African Trade Development Fund has since 2011, been the subject of a dispute between the Birus Property Services and Jinja Municipal Council on the one hand, and traders on the other hand.
In two separate letters dated January 20, the acting director of PU, Mr Moses Mwase, said it was necessary for the two offices to intervene.
“This is to seek your urgent intervention to enable government stop the ongoing construction works on the site that are ongoing day and night which may require your directive to those on site to stop,” reads the letter to the IGG.
In a separate letter, Mr Mwase asked the Attorney General, Mr Peter Nyombi, to “avert further impunity and abuse”, adding that the PU would seek damages for losses incurred as a result of the illegal demolition.
“This is, therefore, to seek your urgent intervention to enable government stop the ongoing construction works on the site that are ongoing day and night, which may require an urgent interim order and a permanent injunction,” states the letter.
The dispute arose after the Uganda Land Commission allocated the building to Birus without giving the tenants a chance.
The tenants sought the intervention of the IGG who ordered cancellation of the allocation and revocation of land title that had been given to the firm.
The traders also filed a suit in the High Court seeking an injunction against the company’s plans to demolish the building but they lost, and it was razed, a move that Mr Mwase described as illegal.
The police have since denied any wrongdoing.

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