2,000 departed Asians properties in Uganda remain unclaimed
“Out of 9,000 properties, about 2,000 properties remain unclaimed,” DAPCB Chairman of the Board's Divestiture Committee, Arnold Turwomwe said, highlighting the scale of the outstanding work.
Finance Minister Henry Musasizi
KAMPALA - Over 2,000 properties belonging to the departed Asians have remained unclaimed for more than five decades after the 1972 expulsion.
Officials from the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) revealed Friday that while government has made substantial progress in resolving ownership of former Asian properties, approximately 2,000 properties remain unclaimed out of nearly 9,000 that originally came under the Board's custody.
“Out of 9,000 properties, about 2,000 properties remain unclaimed,” DAPCB Chairman of the Board's Divestiture Committee, Arnold Turwomwe said, highlighting the scale of the outstanding work.
Accompanied by his team, including DAPCB Executive Secretary George William Bizibu, on Friday, July 17 briefed the Minister of Finance, Henry Musasizi, on the progress the Board has taken to significantly step up efforts to reconstruct a comprehensive register of all properties under its management.
"In accordance with the law which requires the Board to maintain a proper assets register, we have recreated a register of the properties and issued a gazette notice of the unclaimed properties," Bizibu said.
"I will closely work with the management to wind up the process in accordance with the law," Musasizi said .
He added that the Minister of State for Privatisation and Investment, Evelyn Anite Mukalazi, will monitor the operations of the Board to ensure the remaining work is completed efficiently and transparently.
Officials did not immediately indicate how many of the outstanding properties are under litigation or awaiting verification of ownership.
The latest review comes as government seeks to complete one of Uganda's longest-running property restitution programmes.
Fact file
The subsequent Expropriated Properties Act laid down procedures for valuation, competitive sale, repossession and restitution of the properties.
Under the law, all abandoned properties were vested in the Government of Uganda under the authority and management of the DAPCB, which is chaired by the Minister of Finance.
The Board is also legally required to maintain an accurate register of all assets under its custody.
Following the return to constitutional governance, the Expropriated Properties Act enabled former owners and their legal heirs to reclaim eligible properties, while government retained responsibility for managing and disposing of assets that remained unclaimed.
More than five decades after the expulsion, thousands of properties have been repossessed by their former owners or legally disposed of by government.
However, the existence of about 2,000 unclaimed properties has remained an unresolved chapter, prompting the Finance Ministry to renew efforts to wind up the process in accordance with the law.