CMI chief, Masaka mayor in land row
Sep 27, 2011
THE Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) boss, Brigadier James Mugira, has lashed out at the Masaka municipality mayor, Godfrey Kayemba, for implicating him in the controversial procurement of plots in the town.
By Dismus Buregyeya
THE Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) boss, Brigadier James Mugira, has lashed out at the Masaka municipality mayor, Godfrey Kayemba, for implicating him in the controversial procurement of plots in the town.
Speaking in an interview, Mugira said he acquired a plot title in Kizungu, Masaka municipality at a cost of sh91m after clearing with the municipal council authorities.
Mugira was reacting to Kayemba’s remarks implicating him among the high-ranking UPDF officers who are buying municipality properties without the consent of the council authorities.
The Army Chief of Staff, Brigadier Sliver Kayemba and the deputy commanding officer of the UPDF armoured brigade, Lt. Col. Kenneth Muheirwe, are among the senior UPDF officers named in the irregular purchase of the municipal land.
Mugira said Masaka municipal council leaders advised him to apply for the property in 2008 after the house had been condemned under the Old Kumbu housing estates.
Mugira, the then commanding officer for the UPDF armoured brigade in Masaka, was occupying the house.
“I applied for the plot through the relevant offices. I wonder why the mayor named me among the land-grabbers,†he said.
Mugira said he was a professional lawyer who could not indulge himself in irregular land transactions.
However, Kayemba insisted that the property Mugira claims was still being indicated as municipal council property.
The deputy town clerk, Benon Iga, however, defended Mugira, saying the former municipal council leadership led by the then mayor, Charles Kasibante, requested the soldier to buy the property so as to settle a financial crisis that had hit the municipality
“We desperately needed money that is why we sold some of the municipal properties,†Iga said.
THE Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) boss, Brigadier James Mugira, has lashed out at the Masaka municipality mayor, Godfrey Kayemba, for implicating him in the controversial procurement of plots in the town.
Speaking in an interview, Mugira said he acquired a plot title in Kizungu, Masaka municipality at a cost of sh91m after clearing with the municipal council authorities.
Mugira was reacting to Kayemba’s remarks implicating him among the high-ranking UPDF officers who are buying municipality properties without the consent of the council authorities.
The Army Chief of Staff, Brigadier Sliver Kayemba and the deputy commanding officer of the UPDF armoured brigade, Lt. Col. Kenneth Muheirwe, are among the senior UPDF officers named in the irregular purchase of the municipal land.
Mugira said Masaka municipal council leaders advised him to apply for the property in 2008 after the house had been condemned under the Old Kumbu housing estates.
Mugira, the then commanding officer for the UPDF armoured brigade in Masaka, was occupying the house.
“I applied for the plot through the relevant offices. I wonder why the mayor named me among the land-grabbers,†he said.
Mugira said he was a professional lawyer who could not indulge himself in irregular land transactions.
However, Kayemba insisted that the property Mugira claims was still being indicated as municipal council property.
The deputy town clerk, Benon Iga, however, defended Mugira, saying the former municipal council leadership led by the then mayor, Charles Kasibante, requested the soldier to buy the property so as to settle a financial crisis that had hit the municipality
“We desperately needed money that is why we sold some of the municipal properties,†Iga said.