Government to probe Asians’ property in Mbale

Mbale- Government has instituted a committee to investigate all properties that belonged to departed Asians in Mbale District.

The 14- member committee chaired by the deputy Resident District Commissioner, Ms Lillian Nakawesi, will investigate properties that have been fraudulently occupied by some individuals.

The move follows several complaints received by the custodian board on abuse of the properties.

“The committee will help the custodian board identify all properties abandoned or not dealt with by the Ministry of Finance in the locality and bring them to the attention of the custodian board,” the chairperson of the custodian board, Mr Abdulhu Byakatonda, said.

“The board received information that some people have had illicit dealings involving these properties outside the laws by defrauding government of billions of shillings,” he added.

Mr Byakatonda said any property which was vested in government lawfully cannot be claimed by anyone or they should not possess or pass on the titles unless the Finance minister has been notified.

Other members on the committee include the LC5 chairperson, Mr Bernard Mujasi, the Chief Administrative Officer and Mbale Municipality Town Clerk.

Other stakeholders
Mr Byakatonda also requested the committee to deploy land protection unit to investigate and provide information which will lead to the recovery and cancellation of duplicate certificate of titles on those properties and any other action within the law.

“People need to follow the right process to posses these properties, you need to give the right information to the public,” he said.

Mr Byakatonda advised the committee to be transparent and work as a team to ensure that all problems are solved.

He, however, said more than 75 properties in the district are under investigation and requested the commandant of land protection to support and aid the probe process.

“There are many properties which are under investigation and the information which will be provided to the custodian board by this committee will help to solve many of those cases,” Mr Byakatonda said.

Ms Nakaweesi commended the custodian board for bringing the local government on board because many of them lacked information about the departed Asians properties in the area.

“Many local leaders lacked information because we thought the custodian board was no longer in place but involving leaders and giving us information we will be able to solve such cases which are very common in our locality,” she said.

Ms Nakaweesi urged all stakeholders to work together to ensure all aspects of fraud are brought to the attention of the board for appropriate guidance.
However, Mr Zandya Mutwalibu, the mayor of Mbale Municipality, asked the board to also involve the Judiciary.

“ Most times, people just take cases to court investing in a lot of money for nothing and in the end, they lose out because in most cases, some of those properties belong to the custodian board but people lack information and in the process they are sold to outside of the law,” he said.

Mr Mutwalibu urged leaders to notify the public about the buildings to avoid falling victim to unscrupulous sellers.

“People need to know about this information because most of them don’t know and they end up buying properties outside the law and in the end they lose out,” he said.

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