On Tuesday morning, the Mbarara North Division legislator, Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari appeared before the committee chaired by the Nakawa West legislator, Joel Ssenyonyi as one of the beneficiaries of the URC land. Tasked to show proof of purchase, Rukaari said that he used a bank draft, which was not receipted.
The Mbarara North
Division legislator,
Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari shocked fellow Members of parliament
on Tuesday when he said that he forgot the bank he used to pay for the
purchase of the Uganda Railway Corporation-URC land in Nsambya in Kampala.
Rukaari acquired three plots of land belonging to URC in Port bell and Mulago at Shillings 357million in 2009. As part of the means to re-capitalize URC
which was struggling, the Government
decided to sell off part of 57
acres of its land in
Nsambya and Kibuli at Shillings 69.5
billion.
URC transferred the land to Uganda Land Commission before it was parceled out to investors. But 10 years
later, URC is yet to receive
the money accruing from the sale of the land. Investigations by the Committee
on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprise (COSASE) on the whereabouts of the money, show that some
beneficiaries could have received
the land free of charge.
On Tuesday morning, the Mbarara North Division legislator, Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari appeared before the
committee chaired by the Nakawa West legislator, Joel Ssenyonyi as one of the beneficiaries of the URC land.
Tasked to show proof of
purchase, Rukaari said that he
used a bank draft, which
was not receipted. He shocked the
committee further when he claimed that he couldn’t
remember the bank where he executed the transaction.
He, however, later showed the committee receipts for the payment of 10 percent for the three plots of land he acquired.
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Rukaari also told the committee that after procuring the land in Nsambya he donated it to
his workers since the two plots were
less than an acre.
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Senyonyi gave Rukaari a week to present evidence
that he paid for the land
in question, saying that their main concern is that URC has never received the
money from the said land transaction. He
explained that there is no way the MP
can claim to have paid for the land without any proof.
The same committee also
tasked Janet Kobusingye,
the proprietor of Mestil hotel and tasked her to explain how she
acquired the land. Kobusingye
told the committee that the Government
took over her land in Naguru measuring six
acres valued at Shillings 1.5
billion prompting her to run
to the high court.
She says that the government decided to compensate her
with 4 acres of land in Nsambya, adding that she didn’t
get the appropriate value of the land she lost in Naguru.
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….Uganda Railways Corporation,”//
The committee tasked her to come with all
documents relating to her
land transactions.
Alex Otto
Freelancer
