Land commission ordered to pay Bigirimana Shs300m

Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Secretary to the Judiciary. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Court documents further show ULC opted to pay Mr Bigirimana in instalments without his consent but even then, he has not yet been paid fully to date, hence the court action.

The High Court in Kampala has ordered the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) to pay Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Secretary to the Judiciary, more than Shs300 million as outstanding balance for the piece of land he sold to government in 2016.
In his March 16 ruling, Justice Michael Elubu, also directed the ULC to pay Mr Bigirimana his balance by close of the current financial year in June.

“The vendor (Mr Bigirimana) has been left unpaid despite full transfer of the land to the purchaser (ULC) for a period more than two and a half years. From the evidence before this court, no reason has been furnished for this delay. This court takes the view that this is an unreasonable length of time for the vendor to be kept waiting for the purchaser to perform his obligation to pay the vendor,” Justice Elubu ruled.
Court also ordered ULC to pay Mr Bigirimana at an interest rate of 21 per cent per annum until payment in full.

“In this instant case, the vendor sold his land and has not had use of the property therefrom which could have been reinvested. This court therefore, takes the view of the vendor being entitled to a commercial interest on the outstanding amount until payment in full,” Justice Elubu ordered.
Court documents show that Mr Bigirimana was the owner of land in Block 103 Plot 5 in Bulemezi, Nakabito, and Nakigozi all in Luweero District.
He sold the said piece of land to the ULC at Shs504m.

Court documents further show ULC opted to pay Mr Bigirimana in instalments without his consent but even then, he has not yet been paid fully to date, hence the court action.
According to court documents, Mr Bigirimana has since 2016, only received Shs200m, which was paid in three instalments of Shs50m, Shs100m, and Shs50m.
ULC was created by Parliament in 1995. Its mandate is to manage all land in Uganda that is legally owned or acquired by government in accordance with the Constitution.