MPs kick out Kampala minister after failing to provide details about Nakawa-Naguru land row

Members of Parliament investigating Nakawa-Naguru estate land row on Thursday kicked officials from the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) after they failed to provide details about the status of the highly contented land.

Lawmakers led by the adhoc committee chairperson, Mr Dan Kimosho (Kazo County MP) resolved to kick out the minister for Kampala and metropolitan affairs, Ms Minsa Kabanda who was flanked by the KCCA principal legal officer, Ms Claire Olaki, after the two failed to answer a series of questions put to them by the members.

The officials had been summoned to respond to queries raised by the MPs so that a conclusive position can be arrived at in regard to the friction surrounding the dicey issue on the said land.

The MPs who were on March 1, 2022, instructed by the Deputy Speaker, Ms Anita Among, to probe the land row failed to make headway from its interface with the officials who constantly referred the MPs to direct their questions to the ministry of land, Uganda Land Commission (ULC) and the office of the Attorney General.

The proposal to send away the KCCA officials was made by Tororo Woman MP, Ms Sarah Opendi and the Soroti West MP, Mr Jonathan Ebwalu who were irked by the officials conduct.

“I am not sure we can proceed without the technical teams here. So this team is incomplete without them,” Ms Opendi said before Mr Ebwalu recommended that Ms Kabanda and Ms Olaki be sent away.

“If she is not able to respond [to the questions] then she should excuse herself early enough. She is not answering our questions as appreciated,” Mr Ebwalu said.

Before he could rule on the matter, Mr Kimosho demanded that Ms Kabanda and the principal Ms Olaki answer the questions reasoning that the committee members had limited time within which they had to expedite their probe.

However, this too didn’t yield anything as Ms Olaki insisted she did not have answers to the pressing questions the committee members constantly raised regarding the land.

“Like I have already said in my presentation, the information that the ministry of [Kampala] has as per now is that the situation at Naguru has been overtaken by events. The ULC and the Attorney General’s office should be able to provide the update of the current status of the Naguru land,” Ms Olaki told the committee members.

She added: “If this committee wants information about the status of the land right now it should be the ministry of lands, ULC and the Attorney General.”

The KCCA officials were sent away and told to return with detailed responses and also be accompanied by the requisite technical teams that are well versed with the specifics on the matter under investigations.

Two ministers summoned

Relatedly, Mr Kimosho summoned the minister for lands, Ms Judith Nabakooba, and her local government counterpart, Mr Raphael Magyezi, to appear before the same committee without fail.

This was after the two ministers failed to appear show up as had been expected.

In a communiqué delivered to the committee members, the officials including the two ministers and technical staff claimed to have received committee invitations late.

“For the other ministers that have not come, I don’t agree with the claim that the invitations were on short notice because we sent them on Monday and today is Thursday,” Ms Kimosho said before adding: “So, Clerk, you summon the minister of lands and that of local government. For lands, she should come with the lands commission.”

According to him, failure by the ministers to respond to the committee summons would escalate into arrogance if the whip was not cracked in time.

Ms Among last week instituted an adhoc committee to conduct a second investigation into the controversial Naguru-Nakawa land. The first investigation was conducted by a section of MPs in the 10^th Parliament led by the then Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga.

The said committee is comprised of Bugiri Municipality MP Mr Asuman Basalirwa, Tororo Woman MP Sarah Opendi, Butambala Woman MP Ms Aisha Kabanda and Sheema Municipality Mr Dickson Kateshumba.

Others include the Mbarara City Woman MP, Rita Atukwasa, Kilak South MP , Mr Anthony Akol,  Amolatar Woman MP Agnes Apea and Soroti West MP Mr Jonathan Ebwalu.