Head of custodian board accused of land grabbing

Mr George William Bizibu, executive secretary of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) on July 16, 2019.

Wakiso- The commandant of the Land Protection Police Unit (LPPU) has been asked to investigate allegations that Mr George Bizibu, the executive secretary of the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB), grabbed land at Ssisa Estate in Wakiso District.

Ladha Kassam & Company Ltd, the complainant, says before former president Idi Amin expelled Asians in 1972, the company had a model farm of cotton, coffee, poultry and animals on the land.

The company states that in 1991 when it re-possessed the land, it was all smooth-sailing until recently when Mr Bizibu claimed 130 acres of the same land.

“Our client has learned that DAPCB through its executive secretary, is fraudulently laying claim on our client’s land through a letter enclosed herewith,” reads a July 26 letter by the company lawyers, Lwere, Lwanyaga & Company Advocates, to LPPU.

Documents show the land was registered in the company name on July 4, 1955.

Supporting documents also include a certificate authorising repossession dated November 21, 1991, signed by the then Finance minister, Dr Crispus Kiyonga. The land was originally registered as Freehold Register Volume 3 Folio 15 Busiro Block 408 Plot 3 land at Sisa.

But Mr Bizibu insists the property is still vested and managed by DAPCB under the Expropriated Properties Act, 1982.
He adds that the Finance ministry still superintends over the property.

A complaint has also been lodged at the land registration office for revocation of ‘fake’ mailo titles created on the land.

Ladha Kassam & Company Ltd on June 17 complained that illegal mailo titles were created by Wakiso Land Registry yet a freehold title exists.
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