Asian properties: Claimants asked to prove ownership
Men talking to a street vendor on one of the buildings which is believed to be one of the properties of departed Asians along Edward Avenue in Masaka City. PHOTO/ Malik Fahad Jjingo
What you need to know:
- According to the government’s plan, if the claimants fail to prove ownership of the properties within six months, the government will go ahead to auction them.
The government has given a six-month ultimatum to purported owners of all properties left behind by Asians expelled from Uganda 52 years ago to prove ownership. According to the government’s plan, if the claimants fail to prove ownership of the properties, the government will go ahead to auction them.
Some of the current owners claim they acquired the properties from the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB), and their leases are still running. DAPCB is an agency charged with the responsibility to manage all assets left behind by over 50,000 Asians who were expelled by former President Idi Amin Dada in August 1972.
According to Mr George William Bizibu, the executive secretary of DAPCB, the board has embarked on verification of all claimants before the board can proceed with any plans of disposing of unclaimed properties.
The board’s decision follows a statutory notice issued by the Minister of Finance instructing DAPCB to invite claimants and those with proper documentation about the properties can start the repossession process. “The spirit of the law was to give back the properties to the rightful owners.
It’s against this background that the Minister issued the notice to call all claimants of the properties before we dispose of them, and this is also the will of the President,” he said during an interview on Saturday Mr Bizibu revealed that the board is currently undertaking the verification exercise of over 20,600 properties across the country, and the purported owners are expected to appear before the board with documentation showing proof of ownership.
“We expect the claimants to appear with land titles, land purchase agreement, certificate of repossession, certificate of purchase, leaseholder offers, or allocation letter from the custodian board, if any, among other proof of ownership documents,” he said The properties are spread in the major urban centres like Jinja, Masaka, Kamuli, Soroti, Kampala, Arua, and Iganga, among others. In Masaka City, for example, at least 70 properties are claimed by individuals along streets like Elgin Street, Horbert Street, Grant Street, Edward Avenue, and Victoria Road, among other places.
One of the claimants of the properties who preferred anonymity said that they were surprised by the statutory instrument for the disposal without their notice. She said that they are happy that the board has finally considered people who have an interest in the properties. A 2O21, Parliament Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) report showed that several individuals had fraudulently acquired properties of the departed Asian.
COSASE, in the same year, set up an investigation into transactions where people obtained forged powers of attorney to transfer the departed Asian properties, and other individuals had resorted to district land boards to erroneously obtain the properties. Hajj Noor Njuki Mbabaali, the publicity secretary of Masaka City Landlords and Property Owners Forum, said they legally acquired the buildings, and there is no need to make another verification of ownership of the properties.
DEFAULTING
The COSASE meeting convened in Masaka City on September 25, 2020, discovered that some of the purported owners of the disputed properties had made partial payments, and they had defaulted on making payments, which had prompted the board to enlist the properties for resale.
