Govt surrenders more land to Mengo
Mar 24, 2009
THE Government has returned about four acres of land in Namasuba on Entebbe Road to Buganda Kingdom. The prime land, where a regional public works department was situated, has been managed by the works ministry for decades.
By Steven Candia
THE Government has returned about four acres of land in Namasuba on Entebbe Road to Buganda Kingdom. The prime land, where a regional public works department was situated, has been managed by the works ministry for decades.
The land located in Makindye- Saabagabo sub-county is part of the 350sq miles owned by the Kabaka in Wakiso district.
The ministry vacated the land in December last year after its lease expired.
“We gave the land back to Buganda Land Board given that our lease had run out,†Suzan Kataike, the ministry spokesperson, said. “They were good to us and even allowed us take our containers,†she said.
The Buganda Land Board was established by the Kabaka to manage his land in Buganda. Kataike said the board had got an investor who was interested in constructing low-cost housing units on the land.
Following the move, buildings which were erected on the land by the works ministry in the 1980s have been razed down.
Buganda Land Board secretary, Kiwalabye Male, said the ministry vacated the land after the board wrote to the Permanent Secretary, asking for the property.
Male said the ministry had also returned two plots in Kagoma on Bombo Road and Kasangati on Gayaza Road.
“We are just waiting for them (ministry) to demolish their structures,†he said. President Yoweri Museveni recently asked the Uganda Prisons Service to hand over Kigo Prisons to Buganda Kingdom.
The prison, which was built by the Buganda government, was taken over by the central government in 1967 after the kingdoms were abolished.
The Prisons authorities are in process of acquiring 460 acres of land in Kasanje, Buwanga in Wakiso district to pave way for the relocation of the prison facility.
The land will cost sh6b. On December 19, 1997, the Government also returned to Buganda the Mengo palace (Lubiri). The palace had been used as a military barracks since 1966.
The Government also handed over the Bulange, the administrative seat for the kingdom, the Kasubi tombs, a burial site for four Buganda kings, the Supreme Court building and 350sq miles of land.
But Mengo says the Government is still holding on to its property and land.
THE Government has returned about four acres of land in Namasuba on Entebbe Road to Buganda Kingdom. The prime land, where a regional public works department was situated, has been managed by the works ministry for decades.
The land located in Makindye- Saabagabo sub-county is part of the 350sq miles owned by the Kabaka in Wakiso district.
The ministry vacated the land in December last year after its lease expired.
“We gave the land back to Buganda Land Board given that our lease had run out,†Suzan Kataike, the ministry spokesperson, said. “They were good to us and even allowed us take our containers,†she said.
The Buganda Land Board was established by the Kabaka to manage his land in Buganda. Kataike said the board had got an investor who was interested in constructing low-cost housing units on the land.
Following the move, buildings which were erected on the land by the works ministry in the 1980s have been razed down.
Buganda Land Board secretary, Kiwalabye Male, said the ministry vacated the land after the board wrote to the Permanent Secretary, asking for the property.
Male said the ministry had also returned two plots in Kagoma on Bombo Road and Kasangati on Gayaza Road.
“We are just waiting for them (ministry) to demolish their structures,†he said. President Yoweri Museveni recently asked the Uganda Prisons Service to hand over Kigo Prisons to Buganda Kingdom.
The prison, which was built by the Buganda government, was taken over by the central government in 1967 after the kingdoms were abolished.
The Prisons authorities are in process of acquiring 460 acres of land in Kasanje, Buwanga in Wakiso district to pave way for the relocation of the prison facility.
The land will cost sh6b. On December 19, 1997, the Government also returned to Buganda the Mengo palace (Lubiri). The palace had been used as a military barracks since 1966.
The Government also handed over the Bulange, the administrative seat for the kingdom, the Kasubi tombs, a burial site for four Buganda kings, the Supreme Court building and 350sq miles of land.
But Mengo says the Government is still holding on to its property and land.