Kasokoso land probe report doctored, House told

By Moses Mulondo & Moses Walubiri

MPs are questioning the credibility of the House infrastructure committee report on the Kasokoso land wrangles after it emerged that a fake memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Kasokoso residents and National Housing had been submitted to Parliament.

Debate on the report was deferred two weeks ago by the deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah after the committee chairman Ephraim Biraaro claimed the Kasokoso residents and National Housing had reached a memorandum of understanding for redeveloping the area.

At that point, the Kasokoso area MP Ibrahim Ssemmujju Nganda vehemently dismissed Biraaro’s submission accusing him of having been compromised by National Housing, the agency that is threatening to evict thousands of people who built on the land located in Kireka in Wakiso district.

Oulanyah wondered why the chairman had submitted the report without attaching such an important document.

Biraaro insisted that the MOU was there. He moved out of the chambers and later returned with it and handed it to Oulanyah.

MPs were shocked this week when Biraaro retracted his earlier submission and suggested that Parliament should disregard the MOU he had submitted.

“We discovered that the MOU was one sided, drafted and signed by only National Housing. It was not worth presenting,” Biraaro said stunning fellow MPs.

Biraaro’s remarks angered several MPs who argued that the report had been rendered null and void since it had been premised on a fake MOU.

A visibly angry Theodore Ssekikubo quickly interjected saying, “I was in the House that day when the Speaker wondered why the MOU Biraaro was referring to had not been attached. That was the crux of the matter. The very chairperson is now turning around. Is this Parliament being taken for granted? Are we being duped by the chairman?” he asked.   

Expressing his disappointment, Mbarara Municipality MP Medard Bitekyerezo said, “Honourable Biraaro fooled us that there was an MOU. Now that he told us a lie, how do we trust his report?”

Buvuma MP Robert Migadde Ndugwa said: “I am a member of the committee that worked on the report but the chairman erred in talking about an MOU. As a committee, we never considered that draft MOU because Kasokoso residents were not involved in drafting it.”

West Budama County South Jacob Oboth said: “I was also in the House that day. If the chairperson now says the MOU was one sided, does the report address the interests of the Kasokoso residents who petitioned parliament for intervention? As parliament we need to help the petitioners. We cannot take for granted people who have been on that land.”

Wakiso woman MP Rosemary Sseninde said: “The people of Kasokoso are looking to Parliament for a solution. The chairperson’s report is one sided and it ignored the interests of the petitioners.”

Kilak County MP Gilbert Olanya said, “I am a member of the committee but the report was doctored. That is why I wanted to write a minority report and chairman told me I was late because he had already submitted the report. The interests of the petitioners were ignored by those who compiled the report.”

Kadaga deferred debate on the report to Thursday (Tomorrow) after she has internalized all the facts regarding the report and the petition.

This is not the first time accusations of doctoring reports are coming up. MPs Raphael Magyezi and Florence Kintu were also put on spot for doctoring a report out of a petition by the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago on the mismanagement of KCCA by Jennifer Musisi and her technical team. Their report was rejected by parliament.