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Qualicel building row: Government to collect rent from tenants
Affected. Padlocks welded onto the door of shops at Qualicel building as traders demonstrated on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
Yesterday some shops of traders who accepted to pay the arrears were opened while those whose owners refused to pay remained closed.
Kampala. Government yesterday halted construction works on Plot 50-52 Nakivubo Road undertaken by city businessman Drake Lubega citing lack of an approved plan.
The government also promised to open up a bank account where traders operating from Qualicel arcade can deposit their rental fees in the meantime until court rules on the ownership of the contested building.
Plot 50-52 is adjacent to Qualicel arcade, which is being claimed by Mr Lubega.
Ownership
Ownership of the two properties, however, remains a matter of contestation between the family of the late Charles Muhangi and Mr Lubega. Muhangi died in December last year.
The order to halt the construction works and opening of a bank account was communicated yesterday by the State minister for Kampala Affairs, Ms Benny Namugwanya Bugembe, during a press conference called to communicate government’s position on the matter.
The press briefing was triggered by the Wednesday incident where traders, who operate at Qualicel, spent the entire day stranded after Mr Lubega, who claims to be the legitimate landlord of the contested facility, closed off the shops, demanding that traders clear rental arrears.
“Government through the Attorney General’s office shall negotiate a modality of opening up an account where all disputed or accruing rent for the period of February 2019, shall be paid and held therein until the final case is determined by courts of law,” the minister said.
But Ms Namugwanya did not give a timeline in which the said bank account will be opened, saying the Attorney General would first engage the concerned parties.
To ensure safety of traders and property, Ms Namugwanya also noted that Cabinet had resolved that security remains beefed up until the situation returns to normal.
This newspaper yesterday quoted traders alleging that Mr Lubega was asking them to pay rent from November last year to February yet they had paid the same money to the family of the late Muhangi.
Traders further claimed that Mr Lubega gave them a 15-day ultimatum to pay the rent for March or they face eviction.
The minister also condemned Mr Lubega’s decision, saying he never followed legal procedures. She directed him to open the shops as negotiations continue.
“Landlords should stop locking up shops or even welding entrances without following lawful procedures to enforce recovery of any outstanding rent from tenants,” she said.
Lubega defiant
When contacted on phone yesterday, Mr Lubega rejected government’s plan to open a bank account and insisted that traders must pay him directly and not through ‘third parties’.
“How can Namugwanya [minister] give directives on my personal building? There is no way government can create a bank account because I have my personal account where traders are supposed to deposit their rental dues. I will also continue charging rental fees because I have bank loans to clear. It is my property,” Mr Lubega insisted.
He also disregarded claims that he did not have approved plans for the ongoing construction works for plots 50-52 on Nakivubo Road.
“I think the minister is just being misled because I have all the approved plans from KCCA,” he said.
Efforts to get back to the minister to ask her about Mr Lubega’s defiance were futile as her mobile phone couldn’t be reached.
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