Land Probe: Cooperative union pinned on sh6b land deal

May 17, 2018

The commission heard that Wamala Growers Cooperative Union bought land measuring 60.5 acres at sh60m and sold it to Uganda Land Commission in 2016 at sh6b

Wamala Cooperative Growers Union general manager, Herbert Kizito, appearing before the committee. Photo by Denis Dibele

The Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters queried payment of sh6b from the Land Fund to Wamala Growers Cooperative Union Ltd.

The commission chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, wondered why Wamala Growers Cooperative Union was irregularly paid sh6b from the Land Fund coffers.

The commission heard that Wamala Growers Cooperative Union bought land measuring 60.5 acres at sh60m at Nalukulongo from Bank of Uganda in 2003, and sold it to Uganda Land Commission in 2016 at sh6b.

The commission's lead counsel, Ebert Byenkya, tasked the cooperative's general manager, Herbert Kizito, to explain why Wamala Growers Cooperative Union benefited from the Land Fund yet it did not qualify to get paid.

The Land Fund is a multipurpose resource basket with targeted beneficiaries, including tenants seeking to buy/own land.

The fund is also used when the government is seeking to buy land for redistribution to bona fide occupants or resettlement of the landless. It is also a loans basket to persons wanting to acquire titles or survey their land.

Kizito defended the payment, saying the management was not aware that Wamala Growers Cooperative Union was not entitled to payment under the Land Fund.

He told the commission that the transaction between Uganda Land Commission and Wamala Growers Cooperative Union was that of a willing seller and buyer.

He said the land was sold to Uganda Land Commission without any prior knowledge to gain profits from the Land Fund.

Wamala Growers Cooperative Union provides modernised agriculture, access to inputs, market and credicts

Kizito explained to the commission that Wamala Growers Cooperative Union sold the land to government, so that it could be used to settle occupants who had been threatened with evictions.

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