LEAD-AFRICA.Ug
Govt rejects Mengo leases
Minister Amongi wants Kyapa mu ngalo stopped
In a three-page letter written on May 17 to Buganda kingdom prime minister Charles Peter Mayiga, the minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Betty Amongi, raised the government’s strongest reservations yet to the kingdom’s ongoing land titling campaign dubbed Ekyapa mu ngalo.
Amongi’s letter, which is copied to President Museveni, Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi and Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, among others, also invited Mayiga and Buganda Land Board (BLB) for a meeting the following day, May 18, to address her concerns.
According to Amongi’s letter, a copy of which The Observer has seen, the government is uncomfortable with the Ekyapa mu ngalo initiative because its implementation may conflict with Article 237 (8) of the Constitution and Section 31 (1) of the Land Act.
“How will you ensure that the occupants who become [lessees] do not lose their interest after the expiry of the lease? How will you arrive on the premium, ground rent and other terms and conditions in as far as Section 31 (3)(5)(8) and (9) are concerned?”Amongi asks.
The minister also wondered how Mengo would determine the nominal ground rent set by her ministry in 2011 under the Land (annual nominal ground rent) regulations statutory instrument 55.
“How will you handle tenants who will wish to acquire other registrable interests as stipulated under Section 38 of the Land (Amendment) Act?” Amongi wondered.
She also questioned why BLB, a privately registered company, came to manage land belonging to a cultural institution.
Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi with President Museveni at State House recently
“It has come to my knowledge that BLB has been transformed into a private company with a nominal shareholding by the Kabaka. The original concept of the official mailo is premised on it being institutional land held by the Kabaka as an institution and for the Kabaka to hold it in trust, on behalf of the people of Buganda,” Amongi said.
According to Amongi, a privately registered company cannot be accountable to the people of Buganda in as far as management of the official mailo is concerned.
She also asked how BLB, a privately incorporated company, will cater for the public interest of the beneficiaries of the official mailo. On May 24, Buganda royals petitioned the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led commission of inquiry into land matters to revisit BLB’s control over the estate of the late Kabaka Daudi Chwa II.
Prime Minister Rugunda has since asked Amongi to set up a sub-committee to investigate issues raised by Daudi Chwa’s family. The sub-committee is headed by Isaac Musumba, the minister of state for Urban Development. The family claims that part of the 350 square miles returned to the Kabaka belong to them but that BLB and the Kabaka have excluded them from its management.
GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
In her letter, Amongi further wonders why BLB wrote to public institutions such as National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), government installations and entities, as well as local governments, urging them to vacate the kingdom land or pay “exorbitant ground rent and premium.”
“Under cabinet minute 125 (CT 2016), cabinet directed my ministry to engage the kingdom officials on this matter and report back. Therefore, I would like to hear your proposal on how we should handle this issue of land on which there are government installations, buildings and infrastructure offering public service to the population,” the Oyam South MP further wrote.
The minister has reportedly written to various government institutions urging them not to comply with BLB’s demands. Incidentally, in May 2015, the attorney general, Freddie Ruhindi, advised government entities to regularise their occupancy of Buganda kingdom’s land in light of the 2013 agreement between the Kabaka and the president.
Some of the entities that received Ruhindi’s letter include NWSC, Uganda Railways, the ministry for Local Government, Inspector General of Police, Prisons and ministry of Defence.
Ruhindi premised his correspondence on a 2015 meeting President Museveni convened at his country home in Rwakitura, Kiruhura district, which was also attended by Katikkiro Mayiga.
A source close to Amongi said the minister was moved to act after receiving seven petitions critical of the Kyapa mu ngalo from a cross-section of Baganda who included the Chwa family.
MENGO SHOCKED
Amongi’s letter came two weeks after the minister instructed the Bamugemereire commission of inquiry to take a keen interest in the Kyapa mu ngalo campaign.
Reliable sources say Amongi’s letter shocked and infuriated Mengo officials.
Amongi declined to be interviewed on the matter when The Observer contacted her on Thursday, but some officials at Mengo accuse her of acting in contravention of the August 1, 2013 agreement signed between Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi on behalf of the kingdom and President Museveni on behalf of the government.
In the agreement, the government undertook to revert to Buganda the former estate of Buganda kingdom comprised in land in urban centres and the kingdom’s former administrative centres, among other key properties.
The agreement also requires both parties not to engage in hostile propaganda against each other.
MENGO RESPONDS
During the May 18 meeting at the ministry of Lands boardroom, BLB officials told Amongi that issuance of leases started way back in May 1919 under the then Official Estates Act, which allowed every holder of the official estate to lease land.
“The practice of obtaining leases was carried on through the 1960s even when the kingdom was abolished in 1966 and official estates vested into Uganda Land Commission [ULC],” BLB stated in its eight-page response.
With regard to compliance with the constitution, BLB said in its statement that the Kyapa mu ngalo campaign guarantees security of tenure.
“The campaign does not in any way adversely affect the security of occupancy; in fact it further enhances it by providing added security in form of a well-surveyed and formally registered piece of land to persons who are merely lawful or bona fide occupants,” BLB stated.
BLB managing director David Kiwalabye Male could not be reached for a comment. He is currently visiting the USA with Mayiga. But in his statement to Amongi, he said BLB respects the law and would abide by the provisions of the Land Act in regard to determining ground rent and the nominal ground rent.
About BLB being a private company, Mengo stated that BLB, as opposed to the 1962 statutory body, is a department in the kingdom.
“In 2015, because of its increasing roles and challenges, it was incorporated into a legal entity solely owned by the Kabaka of Buganda who is a corporation sole under Article 246 of the Constitution,” Mengo stated.
“BLB is an agent of the Kabaka, its role is to manage and administer the kingdom’s estates. It is accountable through its board to the cabinet of Buganda kingdom and ultimately the Kabaka of Buganda who [is] accountable to the people of Buganda through clear cultural and structural systems,” Mengo stated, further telling Amongi that the issue was an internal matter of Buganda kingdom.
We have learnt that the minister has since referred BLB’s letter to the attorney general for interpretation.