KCCA to recover Nkurumah dispensary

Oct 29, 2020

“We have been losing our facilities such as schools, markets and land,” he said.

City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has revealed that Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) will claim its Nkurumah Road dispensary, following the Auditor General's forensic report.

Lukwago said the report proved that the facility was illegally given away to Securex Amenities about 10 years ago. Speaking to journalists he had hosted at the Lord Mayor's Parlour, Lukwago said a forensic report indicated that the dispensary was given way unlawfully.

He said in the agreement, the developer took over the facility and transformed it into a seven-floor commercial building (SAL Complex) with a promise to provide one floor for the KCCA clinic.

This part of the bargain was, however, not fulfilled. "We have been struggling to recover the facility and it is against this background that we asked the Auditor General to come up with a forensic report," Lukwago said on Monday, October 26.

He said the report shows that the facility should be recovered.

"We have been losing our facilities such as schools, markets and land," he said.

In a report dated September 20, 2020, it was noted that the description of the current property on Plot 71, Nkurumah Road, does not meet the conditions stipulated in the lease agreement.

The report signed by John Muwanga, the Auditor General, revealed that a dispensary that was serving the nearby population in Kampala was destroyed without a replacement. Muwanga noted that Kampala City Council (KCC) issued an occupation permit despite the fact that the developments were not as per the lease agreement.

He noted that a certificate of occupation approval number 082/11 dated February 3, 2011, was signed by John Mpambala, the acting director physical planning. Although the PPDA Act 2003, section 97(1)(c) identifies direct negotiation as one way of disposal of public assets, the procuring and disposing entity did not obtain the prior approval of the minister to dispose of the strategic asset as required by subsection 1(c) and 1(e) of section 87.

He said the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) and KCC did not comply with the requirements of section 59 of the local government and PPDA regulations 2006 (1) that requires a procuring and disposing entity to carry out a due diligence test.

Muwanga said he was not provided with a report to show the executive committee of KCC technically assessed the performance of the clinic and its structures. Muwanga added that the disposal file for Plot 71 Nkurumah Road was not availed by ULC, which creates doubt whether ULC complied with its lease application process when leasing the said property to M/S Securex Amenities Limited.

The lessee did not observe the covenants of the lease agreement and more specifically, section 2(j) to redevelop the premises into a modern commercial complex with a provision for a health centre as agreed between the applicant and KCC.

The consent for a collateral mortgage by Paul Idude, the principal lands officer, did not have a supporting minute of the ULC authorising the two banks that were engaged by the lessee.

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