MPS protest relocation of Mahatma Gandhi centre

Jul 24, 2020

The fight for land and where the centre should be established has created unnecessary delays in construction of the facility.

TOURISM  |  HISTORICAL 

Uganda may lose out on the offer by the Indian government to host Mahatma Gandhi conference centre as well as the Gandhi heritage facility.

During his visit to Uganda in 2018, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, pledged on behalf of his government, to build a Gandhi centre in Jinja, to mark the 150th year since the birth of Indian icon Mahatma Gandhi.

However, during the debate on the delayed construction of the centre, MPs indicated that the Indian government had threatened to withdraw the offer to finance the building of the centre over delays in construction.

According to Latif Ssebagala (Kawempe North) the Parliament committee on foreign affairs recently met with the foreign affairs ministry, which told the MPs that India had said it would withdraw the offer following delays in construction of the centre.

"They were telling us that because the government delayed to implement what was donated (we were supposed to provide land), now we must start afresh on having the donation again, for now they are saying we never showed interest and we must start afresh," Ssebagala told Parliament recently.

Ssebagala's remarks were a response to MP James Waluswaka who had raised the issue as a matter of national importance.

Waluswaka told Parliament that whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wanted the centre built at the Source of the Nile in Jinja, the government had shifted it to Entebbe, in total disregard of Modi's offer condition.

"He said India would build Mahatma Gandhi conference centre in Jinja because of the history of Jinja and the Indian community in Jinja provided land as part of the contribution to the centre.

However, it has come to my notice that some people are changing this centre and taking it to Entebbe," Waluswaka said.

Waluswaka said the fight for land and where the centre should be established has created unnecessary delays in construction of the facility.

Elijah Okupa (Kasilo County) said a delegation from Parliament had also visited Jinja and was taken to the proposed site, where a wall for the centre had been erected, but was surprised that it had since been taken to Entebbe.

"I'm just surprised they were building the wall that was supposed to house the convention centre, how come they are now transferring the centre to Entebbe. Who is doing this?" Okupa asked.

In October last year, Parliament passed a motion to have both Mahatma Gandhi Conference centre and Mahatma Gandhi Heritage centre built at the River Nile in Jinja.

The MPs, however, were shocked to learn that the government had diverted from the earlier decision and wants the facility moved to Entebbe.

"The source of the Nile has got a history, that is why the prime minister of India wanted the facility built there and not any other place.

It is wrong for the country to divert the project to some other place," Wamai Wamanga (Mbale Municipality), said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs was not in the House to respond to the causes of the delays and change of sites for construction of the facility.

However, information indicates that the project's establishment in Jinja was affected after land disagreements, thus its diversion to Entebbe.

Last year, India's High Commissioner to Uganda, Shri Ravi Shankar attributed the delays to lack of co-operation from Jinja municipal council authorities.

There is also information that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of tourism want the Mahatma Gandhi centre built in Entebbe and leave only the Heritage centre in Jinja.

The government has, through the Entebbe Municipality authorities, already identified a piece of land where they plan to construct the Mahatma Gandhi international centre, which Parliament insists should be built in Jinja.

"The prime minister of India was clear that the Mahatma Gandhi centre would be in Jinja. The Source of the Nile is in Jinja, Busoga where the prime minister wanted the facility to be and not Entebbe," Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, said.

Summoning Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda to brief Parliament on the matter next week, Kadaga said diverting the construction of the centre to Entebbe, instead of Jinja, is imbalanced development.

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