Apac hospital land sold to individuals

Apac hospital in Apac Municipality could lose a large chunk of its land, Daily Monitor has learnt.
Dozens of people, who once worked at the government health facility, are said to have settled on the hospital land for more than 15 years.

Since its establishment in 1968, Apac hospital has failed to demarcate its land because the authorities are unable to locate its boundary.

In 2006, a portion of the land was also sold out to individuals by the leaders of the then Apac Town Council.
The hospital authorities said those who bought the land acquired a land title.
Dr Alex Oula, the medical superintendent, said the health facility does not have any document of ownership of  the land.

“Many people have already encroached on the hospital land since the hospital authorities are unable to locate the exact boundary of the hospital land,” Mr Oula said during the stakeholder meeting at the hospital last Thursday.
Some elders, who said their fathers offered the land for the establishment of the hospital in 1965, revealed that more than half of the hospital land is now being occupied by the community.

Mr Tom Oluge, 67, said the land where the hospital sits, was his grandfather’s compound and he knows its exact boundary.
“When building Apac hospital started, I was very young but what I know is that the hospital land was on both sides of the road and many homes surrounding the hospital are in the hospital land,” he said.

Mr Sam Omara, another elder who has lived in Apac Town for more than 40 years, said: “I’m appealing to those who have settled on the land to come out voluntarily and we discuss how best the land can be handed back to the hospital.”

Ms Grace Acipa Oruk, who settled on the hospital land, said she bought it from Apac Town Council.
“It is the current mayor, who was the mayor by then and his council was responsible for allotting those plots to people,” she said.

Mr Robert Otim, the chairperson of Apac Hospital Board, said there is need for more land for expansion.
“The land taken up by the community should be reclaimed. In the next 10 years, there shall be so many changes, so we need to put in place mark stones that show where the boundary stops,” he said.

Leaders say
Way forward
The speaker of Apac District, Mr Peter Obong Acuda, who represented the district chairperson at the meeting, urged the hospital authorities to expedite the process of surveying the hospital land.
“Our land is not safe. We should get back here for another meeting with the community and we move out to inspect the boundary so that we can as quickly as possible get the land title,”  Mr Acuda said.

Mr Stanley Mangasa, the Apac Municipal town clerk, urged the district leadership and the hospital administrators to take up the matter and resolve it as quickly as possible.
“The facts we have got from these elders should help us resolve this matter,”  Mr Mangasa said. “The hospital board and the district leadership should come together with those who are using the hospital land and look for the best way of resolving this issue,”  he said.

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