A disgruntled family of late Suleiman Kalema has requested President Yoweri Museveni to intervene and save their land which is on a verge of being sold by an Indian Investor of Ugandan origin.
The family claims ownership of the 30 acres of land in Butabika, Nakawa Division.
They accuse an Indian Investor and Estate Developer of Ugandan origin, Pradip Karia, Chairman and Managing Director of Property Services Limited, a leading commercial, industrial and residential property for secretly selling their land to the Electoral Commission (EC), which intends to establish it’s new headquarters there.
The controversial property, which has been ridiculously priced at Shs111Bn, is a Butabika-premised former GEMS International School, partly in a wetland, belonging to NRM business provider Karia and a top member of the First Family.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kiseka Mawanda the grandson of the late S Kalema warned EC to desist from transacting on this land or else risk losing billions in fraudulent transactions.
“Pradip got a 49-year-old Leasehold in 2017 to develop this land but he has decided to grab it and secretly chose to sell it to Electoral Commission,” he said
“We want to sound a warning to the EC who cleared this land that this Indian is not the owner of the land, the Case is still in Court. It’s a shame for an Organization like EC to go ahead and pay for the land which currently has disputes,” he added.
EC, which Mawanda said has paid part of this money is seeking a new location to establish its headquarters after the new earmarked Kampala fly-over passed through its current offices at Plot 55, along Jinja Road.LocationAccording to the documents from the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), the wetlands` regulatory body the land is located in wetlands.
President Museveni has already pronounced himself by advising against buying the said wetland from Pradip.
In the March 7 letter seen by this Website, Museveni told the Nairobi-based Consultant physician Godfrey Lule said that the said land had 18 acres covered on wetlands.
“I have received your letter of the 25th of January, 2022, regarding the efforts by the Electoral Commission to get new Headquarters. You compared your property on 4 acres to another property on one acre. I have checked with Justice Byabakama. The property they are looking at is on 18 acres for Shs111Bn,” the letter reads in part”They abandoned the one on the acre. I, however, hear that the 18 acres are in a wetland. If that is the case, then your property gains the upper hand. In my copy of this letter, I direct all concerned to logically resolve this issue because where the Electoral Commission Offices are today, needs to be vacated in order to complete the construction of the overhead road,” it adds
The PPDA has also faulted the entire procurement process of the acquisition of the said land.
EC Speaks Out
Speaking to DaParrot on Wednesday this week, Justice Simon Byabakama the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission said that EC has no plans to establish an Office in Butabika.
“We are not putting up an office in Butabika, what I know is that some people expressed interest to sell to us that property, we looked at it and I don’t want to go into details because the process is ongoing however, if there is any issue as to ownership on the said land or property, it’s not for the Commission,” he said adding,
“It’s between the developer and the person who claims it. We have not paid even a single Shilling of the public fund on that property or any other property. You can go to Finance because Shs100Bn is not like Shs10,000 really, that is a huge chunk of money, if you give me that one I will just tomorrow hand-in my resignation and say please ngenze (have gone) Shs111Bn, what will I be sweating for,” he added
Efforts to get a comment from Pradip about the matter were futile as his known numbers were off by press time.
