MPs summon minister over URC land

Sep 21, 2011

THE Minister of State for Privatisation, Aston Kajara, has been summoned by Members of Parliament to produce a comprehensive list of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) properties that the Uganda Land Commission took over following a Cabinet directive in 2010.

By Moses Walubiri and Henry Sekanjako

THE Minister of State for Privatisation, Aston Kajara, has been summoned by Members of Parliament to produce a comprehensive list of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) properties that the Uganda Land Commission took over following a Cabinet directive in 2010.

The minister is expected to appear before the parliamentary committee on commissions, statutory authorities and state enterprises on Thursday.

The committee, chaired by Amuriat Oboi (FDC), has also demanded that the minister gives information on whether the Government paid URC for its land in Nsambya and how money was spent.

David Ssebabi, the director of the privatisation unit, recently told the commission that the URC land at Nsambya was transferred from the privatisation unit to ULC at a cost of sh1.2b per acre.

“There is more to this issue than meets the eye. There are many issues that we can only understand with the minister’s help,” Oboi said.

The legislators also resolved to institute an audit into URC properties, including those outside the country.

“URC had property in Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi; we should endeavor to find out whether they still exist in light of the current controversy surrounding the land in Nsambya,” Bukomansimbi county MP Deogratius Kiyingi said.

The legislators also ordered Mayanja Nkanji, the chairperson of the ULC, to avail them with evidence of the transfers of the land from URC to ULC.

Nkangi appeared before the committee yesterday without the documents, saying he had been summoned at short notice.

“Give me more time to get the necessary documents in order to make our interaction more meaningful,” Nkangi said.

The committee is handling a petition by former employees and sitting tenants of URC challenging the Government decision to sell 57 acres of URC land at Nsambya without advertising it or giving first priority to the sitting tenants.

The tenants have appealed to Parliament to stay the eviction orders which the unknown buyer issued them.

Some of the tenants claim to have lived on the land for more than 30 years.

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