Minister wants land registry probed
Dec 30, 2009
THE State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Vincent Nyanzi, wants the offices of the Administrator General and that of the Registry in the lands ministry investigated over corruption and mismanagement.
By Catherine Bekunda
THE State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Vincent Nyanzi, wants the offices of the Administrator General and that of the Office of titles in theLlands ministry investigated over corruption and mismanagement.
The minister said all problems relating to land in the country are caused by these two offices.
“It is common to find three people each with letters of administration over the same estate and four people with similar land titles,†he said.
Nyanzi was addressing residents of Mpengwe village in Wakiso district at Parliament on Tuesday over a land dispute in the area.
The disputed land in Busiro in Wakiso district is believed to have belonged to Serukwaya Kasolo Musa.
However, one Joseph Lwanga used the land title of the same plot as collateral to secure a sh10m loan from the Uganda Commercial Bank in 1990 but he failed to pay back sh5m.
This prompted the Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust (NPART) to sell the land in 2003 to recover the debt. NPART was set up by the Government to recover debts owed to the defunct Uganda Commercial Bank.
The land was bought by Justus Katwesigwe and Bob Mawejje of Rio Oil but residents blocked them from surveying it in May, prompting the Vice President to intervene.
Over 400 people have settled on the disputed land, which measures 561 acres.
Nyanzi ordered that no part of the estate should be sold by Bibanja owners or by Jackson Kikinyogo, a grandson to Serukwaya, until the matter has been resolved.
“I appeal to you to be patient as we try to solve this matter because some of our officers do things the Government knows nothing about,†he said.
The minister added that officials in the two offices had caused a lot of problems for Ugandans.
“We want to know these people who keep claiming that they are acting on orders from above,†he said.
Nyanzi revealed that at one time, a land title changed ownership to three people in three minutes.
George William Sentamu of the Criminal Investigations Department said they would investigate the matter to check whether the powers of attorney with which Lwanga got the land title were genuine.
“We are going to look at the signatures to detect any fraud,†he noted.
The minister explained that many people have been evicted without due compensation and on short notice.
“The Constitution says that people should be compensated in full and fairly, prior to eviction,†Nyanzi said.
He said he had written to the Governor of Bank of Uganda advising him to instruct all bank managers and managers of microfinance institutions not to sell land belonging to loan defaulters.
“I appeal that such land be sold to the Uganda Land Commission which will not evict peasants.â€
The minister also ordered the LCI chairman, Lamech Balaba, to stop signing purchase agreements until the case has been disposed of.
He said a sales agreement should bear the signatures of five members of the local council committee and not only the chairperson as has been the practice.
THE State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Vincent Nyanzi, wants the offices of the Administrator General and that of the Office of titles in theLlands ministry investigated over corruption and mismanagement.
The minister said all problems relating to land in the country are caused by these two offices.
“It is common to find three people each with letters of administration over the same estate and four people with similar land titles,†he said.
Nyanzi was addressing residents of Mpengwe village in Wakiso district at Parliament on Tuesday over a land dispute in the area.
The disputed land in Busiro in Wakiso district is believed to have belonged to Serukwaya Kasolo Musa.
However, one Joseph Lwanga used the land title of the same plot as collateral to secure a sh10m loan from the Uganda Commercial Bank in 1990 but he failed to pay back sh5m.
This prompted the Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust (NPART) to sell the land in 2003 to recover the debt. NPART was set up by the Government to recover debts owed to the defunct Uganda Commercial Bank.
The land was bought by Justus Katwesigwe and Bob Mawejje of Rio Oil but residents blocked them from surveying it in May, prompting the Vice President to intervene.
Over 400 people have settled on the disputed land, which measures 561 acres.
Nyanzi ordered that no part of the estate should be sold by Bibanja owners or by Jackson Kikinyogo, a grandson to Serukwaya, until the matter has been resolved.
“I appeal to you to be patient as we try to solve this matter because some of our officers do things the Government knows nothing about,†he said.
The minister added that officials in the two offices had caused a lot of problems for Ugandans.
“We want to know these people who keep claiming that they are acting on orders from above,†he said.
Nyanzi revealed that at one time, a land title changed ownership to three people in three minutes.
George William Sentamu of the Criminal Investigations Department said they would investigate the matter to check whether the powers of attorney with which Lwanga got the land title were genuine.
“We are going to look at the signatures to detect any fraud,†he noted.
The minister explained that many people have been evicted without due compensation and on short notice.
“The Constitution says that people should be compensated in full and fairly, prior to eviction,†Nyanzi said.
He said he had written to the Governor of Bank of Uganda advising him to instruct all bank managers and managers of microfinance institutions not to sell land belonging to loan defaulters.
“I appeal that such land be sold to the Uganda Land Commission which will not evict peasants.â€
The minister also ordered the LCI chairman, Lamech Balaba, to stop signing purchase agreements until the case has been disposed of.
He said a sales agreement should bear the signatures of five members of the local council committee and not only the chairperson as has been the practice.