MP Rukaari presents payment evidence to IGG over railway land deal

Mbarara City North Member of Parliament (MP) Mwesigwa Rukaari. PHOTO/FILE/COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Last week, the IGG tasked Rukaari to prove that the process leading to acquisition of the land "was clear and transparent."

Mbarara City North legislator Mwesigwa Rukaari has responded to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) in on-going investigations over the contested sale of Uganda Railways land in Kampala.

In a December 6 letter addressed to the Deputy IGG Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe, Rukaari said he purchased the properties from Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) following “a very open and transparent process.”

Among the documents submitted are bid documents, acceptance of bid letters, Stanbic Bank transaction status reports and a letter dated September 3, 2009 by the Privatization Unit addressed to URC requesting them to handover the titles and instruments of transfer.

The other documents submitted indicate that Rukaari paid Sh160million to URC through the Privatization Unit on May 11, 2007, Sh116m in 2009 and another Sh80m in the same year.

Last week, the IGG tasked Rukaari to prove that the process leading to acquisition of the land "was clear and transparent."

"The IGG has taken interest in this matter and has commenced investigations on the same. This investigation is premised on allegations that you illegally acquired plots of land from URC which caused financial loss to the Government of Uganda," the letter said.

Rukaari had been given a deadline of December 6 to submit documents including the sales agreement, application forms used to bid for the land, receipts or proof of payment and evidence of ownership of the plots.

The IGG said Tuesday they had received all the documents and will now examine them to establish their authenticity.

“We got all the documents we asked him to present and now will examine them to ascertain if they are authentic before we can do anything thereafter,” the Inspectorate’s spokesperson, Ms Ali Munira told this publication.