In a setback for the country and sports, plans to set up an Olympic-size swimming pool, gymnasium, basketball and tennis courts fit for international sporting events at Mandela National Stadium Ltd, have diminished after half of the stadium’s land was grabbed.
Out of the 120 acres of the stadium, a government of Uganda-owned facility, also popularly known as Namboole, the stadium management can only account for 60 acres. The other 60 have been grabbed.
Some of the major encroachers on the stadium land include; Norah Nabagesera, who claims part of the stadium land including the Pioneer Bus Company park and Mamerito Mugerwa, leader of Kireka Veterans Development Group. Mamerito also owns Hotel Mamerito. The other is Sports View Hotel Kireka and Bweyogerere Market.
The shocking revelation is contained in a petition lodged by Mandela National Stadium Limited management with the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led Commission of Inquiry into land matters. In the petition, the stadium managers are asking for help to acquire a certificate of title for their 120-acre piece of land and also get rid of the encroachers.
Appearing before the land probe on May 16, the managing director, Mandela National Stadium, Jamil Ssewanyana, revealed that efforts to secure a certificate of title for the sports facility, have dragged on for the last six years.
“My lord, we have been going through a lot of pressure with land. Anytime I might receive a special title with someone claiming the pitch,” Ssewanyana said.
“We have a security team monitoring our land to ensure that there are no new encroachers. We have broken some houses, but sometimes when we report to police, we are not helped. The last time we arrested some people, they were released,” he added.
Government bought 103 plots on Kyadondo Block 232 and Block 234 to build a stadium in 1989. Several people were compensated but to date, some still claim they were not paid.
While on a locus in quo field visit to Mandela Stadium to assess the level of encroachment by several individuals and companies, Justice Bamugemereire said the land commission will inquire into why encroachers grabbed land without any consideration that the land belongs to a government facility.
“The commission will investigate the claims by the families and individuals in question. However, where the commission finds acts of criminality, the law will take its course,” Bamugemereire, accompanied by the Commission deputy lead counsel, John Bosco Suza and other commissioners, said.
During the tour, the former principal government valuer, Charles Ekolong, said one complainant, Norah Nabagesera, had been compensated for her land on Block 234 Plot 263, which the family claimed was outside the stadium land. He said another family, the Bazitya family, handed over their title to government.
Meanwhile, the National Forestry Authority has lost over 4,000 hectares of Central Forest Reserve (CFR) land in Kayunga district to private developers. The affected reserves are Bajo central forest reserve in Bale sub-county, Wamale and Kiula central forest reserves in Galilaaya sub-county, Namawanyi or Namananga and Karagara falls Central Forest Reserve in Kangulumira sub-county.
Appearing before the land probe, the NFA Policy and Planning Coordinator, Leo Twinomuhangi, said approximately, 2,427.7 hectares of Bajjo forest have illegal titles, while in Wamale Forest Reserve, government has lost 1855.74 hectares of land
Twinomuhangi said in 2017, several developers approached NFA with titles of land acquired in Kayunga district. The land tittles were issued in the names of private individuals in February and March 2015. The Observer learnt that private investors like Madhvani Group, reportedly defied NFA advice not to buy any land in the area because it is a central forest reserve, and instead bought land from individuals.
Reports show that Madhvani Group bought 2, 400 hectares of land in Bajo, and 1, 800 hectares of land in Wamale. The over 4,200 hectares of CFR, is more than half of the total 7,900 hectares of central forest reserve under the control of NFA in the two sub-counties.
“Even after being instructed by NFA not to buy any land in the CFR, Madhvani went ahead and bought land in the forest reserve. As we talk now, they are busy clearing the forests for sugarcane plating,” an NFA official interviewed for this story said.
“Just go to Kayunga physically and see what I am telling you,” he added.
The land titles were fraudulently issued by a former registrar of Mukono M-zone, Ms Loella Ataro Bogere. The commission of inquiry has issued summons for Ataro to appear. It is not the first time Ataro has been accused of issuing fraudulent land titles.
She has been implicated, arrested and detained several times for her role in fraudulent land transactions. The commission has directed her to avail details of 46 plots of land she fraudulently issued in Bajjo and Kiura forest reserves in Ggaliraya and Bajjo sub-counties in Kayunga district.
During a tour of the CFR in Kayunga recently, Justice Bamugemereire and her commissioners, assessed the extent of degradation of the central forest reserve. They found that GM Sugar Company cleared an entire Wamale forest and planted sugarcane.
The hearing of the Mandela Stadium land grab continued on May 20 with former mayor of Kira municipality, Mamerito Mugerwa, on the stand. During cross-examination, Mamerito who owns Mamerito Hotel, told the commission that he will not release the certificate of title for Hotel Mamerito until he is fully compensated.
“Thirty years after the road, I still haven’t been paid. I had some little money myself. But that stadium is a problem to us. They have failed to develop that land. There was a dumping ground that caused a lot of nuisance to my hotel customers. I have lost, I am losing and I am continuing to lose business,” he said.
“They paid me some kamoney. In fact they persuaded me to take that kamoney. But, I never, and I will never, I can’t surrender my title without compensation,” Mamerito said. Asked how much the ka-small money amounted to, he said he could not remember but promised to furnish the Land Commission of Inquiry with the figure.
The matter before the Land Commission of Inquiry (LCOI), pertains to land comprised in block 234 plots 1334, 3391 that is owned, managed and utilised by Mandela National Stadium Ltd, a state owned company.
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