Kasaija blocks Shs370b Kisenyi land deal over wrangles
Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Matia Kasaija. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- In a January 19 letter to the Executive Director of KCCA, Ms Dorothy Kisaka, Mr Kasaija said negotiations to pay for the land would not make progress unless the land wrangles have been resolved.
The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Mr Matia Kasaija, wants the purchase of 10 acres of land in Kisenyi by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to be done after ownership wrangles have been resolved.
In a January 19 letter to the Executive Director of KCCA, Ms Dorothy Kisaka, Mr Kasaija said negotiations to pay for the land would not make progress unless the land wrangles have been resolved.
“While some of the issues raised in my letter Ref: ISS 94/342/01 dated 11th November, 2022 were responded to, others were not. In order to make progress with the negotiations, it is imperative that all the pending issues are resolved,” Minister Kasaija wrote.
KCCA wants to buy a 10-acre piece of land from a local businessman, Mr John Bosco Muwonge and Boost Investments Limited.
Mr Erias Lukwago, the Lord Mayor, protests the purchase of the 10-acre piece of land at Shs370b, saying the payment is inflated. KCCA officials want to construct a market where they would relocate street vendors to.
But the same land is also under ownership contest.
The administrators of the estate of Erenesiti Keresipo Kizito are claiming ownership of the same land.
Mr Kasaija summoned Ms Kisaka, Mr Muwonge, M/S Obed Mwebesa and Associated Advocates, the head of the Private Sector Development Unit in the Finance Ministry and head of the legal unit in the same ministry for a meeting to resolve the matter on February 1. But the meeting was held on February 5.
A source said the minister queried the ownership of the said land but didn’t get clear answers as two parties claimed ownership.
The spokesperson of KCCA, Mr Simon Kasyate, said he wasn’t aware of the meeting and wouldn’t comment on “whether the pending issues have been resolved” or not.
On January 5, 2023, M/S Obed Mwebesa and Associated Advocates, the representative of Ms Eseza Nola Nakibuuka, an administrator of Late Kizito’s estate, wrote to the Permanent Secretary of Finance asking to halt the payments for the said land to Ms Boost Investments Limited saying the ownership of land is still before court.
“In the premises, this is to request you to immediately put on halt the said payment of the above money to Ms Boost Investments Limited as the court still has an obligation to adjudicate over the issue of the ownership of the said land. This will save the government from losing money in case court finds in our client’s favour,” a letter by M/S Obed Mwebesa & Associated Advocates read in part.
