Kakyeka Stadium has suffered the most abuses than most government-owned recreational facilities in the western region.

At the time the facility was fighting encroachment, herdsmen, neglect, poor sanitation, and drainage, most of the horrifying incidents happened. The facility's land title vanished.

An insider from the Mbarara district local government who talked to New Vision alleged the missing title is in the hands of a local tycoon with a mission of taking over the stadium.

Inside Kakyeka Stadium

The missing document alongside six other prime land titles was discovered to be missing by the Mbarara District Public Accounts Committee (DPAC) last week and ordered the arrest of the previous accounting officer (Chief Administration Officer-CAO) Edward Kasagara.

How the title got lost

Kakyeka Stadium was constructed in 1958 by the then king of the United Kingdom, George VI (Albert Fredrick Arthur George) as a donation to the Ankole Kingdom under then King Gasyonga for the kingdom’s support to Great Britain in 1945 World War II.

However, the facility land title was re-printed in 2017 and according to Mbarara District CAO David Muhwezi, the originals were handed over to the then-CAO and  the late Cuthbert Esoku

“The title was made in 2017 and the senior lands officer who was there by then, handed it over to the then accounting officer (CAO,) but we are not seeing it,” Muhwezi said.

“It was discovered during the handover of the office to me that the land titles were missing because when I went to verify them to see one by one, I found some were photocopies,” Muhwezi said.

The PAC chairman Herbert Kamugisha has ordered the arrest of former CAO Edward Kasagara who took over from Esoku and did not realize he had been given photocopies instead of originals on his arrival in office. 

Asked whether there is a clear cause for alarm, the Mbarara district CAO David Muhwezi said there should be no worry as they have entered the process of re-printing new original land titles for all the missing prime lands including that of Kakyeka.

“There is no cause for worry for we have sent in our request to the Ministry of Lands South Western Office for fresh titles and we have already produced replacements and we are working on others including that of Kakyeka,” Muhwezi said.

Kakyeka facelift delays

Kakyeka Stadium received 1.5bn from the government through the National Council of Sports (NCS) this financial year for upgrading the facility with artificial turf.

However, the financial year is a couple of months away from closing, and no big step apart from a couple of meetings between the Mbarara district local government and NCS.