Museveni to resolve Lubega, Muhangi property wrangles

Kampala. President Museveni has met businessmen fighting for the ownership of Qaulicel Bus Terminal and given them seven days in which he will settle their dispute.
The deputy presidential press secretary, Ms Lindah Nabusayi, confirmed the President’s meeting with Mr Charles Muhangi, Mr Drake Lubega and Hajj Mansour Matovu, alias Young, at State House on Tuesday.
“The meeting took place but it was a private one. So I have no details of it,” Ms Nabusayi said yesterday.
Last week, Mr Muhangi, using a letter issued by the office of the Solicitor General, evicted Mr Lubega and his agent, Hajj Matovu from Plot 43 to 47 on Nakivubo Road. The Solicitor General later recalled the letter.
Mr Lubega and Hajj Matovu built Qualicel Bus Terminal Shopping Centre, Qualicel Bus Terminal and Nabukeera Arcade in the former Baganda Bus Park. They were also constructing a new structure in the parkyard when they were evicted.
After the eviction, Mr Muhangi gave a notice to the tenants on the buildings on the contested plots to sign new tenancy agreements and pay November and December rent by today or leave the property.
The tenants claim that they had already paid Mr Lubega and Hajj Matovu.
A source said Mr Museveni urged the two parties to resolve their difference amicably without interfering in the tenants’ rights to trade.
He reportedly told the two parties that seeking redress in court has not helped each side, adding that an out-of-court solution would work for them. The two parties have been in and out of court since 2006.
The source said the parties agreed that the President chairs the negotiations.
When contacted about what they discussed in the meeting, the three businessmen declined to divulge anything.
Last week, Mr Lubega and Hajj Matovu closed arcades they own in the city centre in protest to police’s refusal to effect a letter from the office of the Solicitor General recalling eviction orders.
Thousands of tenants were affected by the closure of buildings that are not in the Qaulicel Bus Terminal dispute.
In a November 6 letter written by Ms Charity Nabasa on behalf of the Solicitor General said the orders to carry out the eviction of Mr Lubega and his agents on the Plot 43 to 47 on Nakivubo Road were made in error.
The police spokesperson, Mr Emilian Kayima, said they could not evict Mr Muhangi until the Inspector General of Police and Solicitor General had reached a final conclusion on who should be in possession of the property.