Catholic Church orders police off Nsambya land

KAMPALA- The Catholic Church has asked police to vacate its land in Nsambya, accusing the Force of breaching the terms of the 99-year lease agreement.

The Church accuses the police of defaulting on ground rent arrears totalling $74.5 million (Shs 188.7 billion) for a period of 43 years.

The Kampala Archdiocese Land Board on May 7 wrote to the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) and Justice ministry, saying the lease has since been cancelled and instructions are to “seek vacant possession” through eviction and “compensation if necessary” at a later date.

“The actual ground rental arrears for the past 33 years and breached ground rental short fall for 10 years prior to the total default need to be ascertained,” the archdiocese through their lawyer, Mr Gordon Bainomugisha, wrote.

While the police have 53 years remaining on the lease, the archdiocese wants them to pay arrears for the arrangement to be reinstated.
The liaison officer of the Police Land Protection Unit, Mr Emilian Kayima, in an interview with the Daily Monitor at the weekend, said the Church raises valid issues which are being addressed.

“We are aware of the fact that police has not paid rent for quite some time but the matter is being handled by the line ministries and appropriately,” Mr Kayima said.

The said land on which Nsambya Police Barracks sits is 60 acres and is mainly used to house more than 8,000 police officers and their families.

However, in the several correspondences to ULC and the ministries of Lands Justice, the Church indicates that police “seems not interested” in resolving the matter.

But Mr Kayima maintained that there is no bad blood between the two institutions and they still acknowledge that the Church is the land lord. The Archbishop of Kampala, Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, last year brought the matter to the attention of President Museveni, saying the failure to clear the arrears and continued occupation of the land could be construed as “a forcible takeover of Church property by government”.

“Prior to this course of trend, we had addressed all cancellations, terminations and notifications to the Attorney General, ULC and respective ministries therein,” the Archbishop wrote.

“However, we would like to inform you that nothing worthy has been done to have this resolved,” Dr Lwanga wrote in a December 17 letter to President Museveni. The Archbishop told the President that the church had terminated the lease agreement with police and government “though with damage restrictive alternative options offered”.

The Church’s lawyers on March 27 served a “notice of eviction” to ULC and the Attorney General, Mr Peter Nyombi.
But the Principal Information Scientist in the Ministry of Lands, Mr Dennis Obbo, said a committee was established to study the matter and a review is ongoing.

“The committee involves both ULC and us, so in any case of remedy we have to first meet, review and consider all issues raised in totality,” Mr Obbo said in a separate interview.

The chairperson of the committee, Mr Baguma Isoke, also the ULC boss, was unavailable for comment as his office said he was on sick leave.
The disputed land currently houses the barracks, which is in a dilapidated state. However Police authorities brought on board a group of investors to redevelop the land through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement on the argument that “not all land” occupied belongs to the Church.

The project manager for the redevelopment, Mr Jim Mugunga, acknowledged that he is “aware of the interest the Church has in the land that is included in the Uganda Police PPP Project” but noted that not all land associated with the project is Church property. He said police is currently engaged in consultations with the various agencies of government “with a view of resolving the issue”.

“It is not the intention of the government or Police under the PPP Project to change land use at Nsambya from serving police interests as was historically designated. The project is merely intended to replace old dilapidated infrastructure with modern amenities for the police,” he said.
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