THIS SOUNDS SO KENYAN: BASAJJA HOLDS KAMPALA CITY COUNCIL LAND TITLES

Basajjabalaba holding land title deeds he claims he acquired over eight years ago


New Vision, Uganda
3rd January, 2010
By Chris Ahimbisibwe and Mary Karugaba

City tycoon Hassan Basajjabalaba has said he is still in possession of the land titles for Nakasero Market and Constitutional Square and wants sh100b in compensation before surrendering them.

He argues that he wants compensation because he was blocked from developing the land after he acquired the titles seven years ago.

Basajjabalaba made the comments on Wednesday at the launch of the Bushenyi district youth network at the district’s multi-purpose hall. Over 1,000 youth attended.

But a senior official in the Kampala City Council (KCC) yesterday said the documents in Basajjabalaba’s possession related to Nakasero Market are “null and void.”

The official, who described the matter as “very sensitive”, argued that Basajjabalaba acquired the Nakasero Market title irregularly through the backing of a senior Cabinet minister.

The official added that Basajjabalaba’s attempt to acquire the Constitutional Square was stopped by the Minister of Local Government at the time, Bidandi Ssali and the money he had paid was refunded.

At the Bushenyi function, Basajjabalaba said the two ministers from Bushenyi district, Kahinda Otafiire and Tarsis Kabwegyere, had been very helpful.

He said Otafiire assisted him to get the Nakasero land title when he was still the lands minister, while Kabwegyere helped him when he was in the local government ministry.

“They wrote to me saying they could not give me a land title. But Otafiire wrote to them directing them to release the title,” he told the gathering.

Had it not been for the intervention of Otafiire, he would never have gotten the Nakasero Market title, he noted, adding that it took him over a year to process the title.

Both ministers were present when he made the comments. The controversial businessman, however, complained that another minister from Bushenyi had been frustrating him.

“We are fed up with leaders who are not helping us,” he said, adding that he was ready to support individuals to remove leaders who were not helping their electorate.

He further told the youth that he recently received a proposal from the Government to accept sh32b in compensation.

But he argued that the money was too little compared to what he invested in getting the titles and what he had planned to do.

“I have already wrote back thanking them for offering sh32b but I have told them that the value of my two land titles stands at sh100b. At the time I secured the titles, the dollar exchange rate was sh1,400.”

He said the company which had acquired Kiseka Market had been handsomely compensated. He did not reveal how much was paid to the firm.

Kisekka Market had been leased to Rhino Investments, linked to army officer Col. John Mugyenyi but President Yoweri Museveni stopped the lease and ordered that the firm be compensated.

Basajjabalaba tried to acquire the Constitutional Square land in 2001 when Ssebaana Kizito was still the city mayor.

He paid sh250m to acquire the plot and planned to re-develop the square into a modern shopping area, with a shopping arcade, airline offices and travel bureaus.

However, the project was opposed by MPs and local government minister Bidandi Ssali. The deal was stopped and KCC refunded him the money.

“He paid us by cheque but we have refunded the money. All the money was refunded in early 2003. There is no way we would keep the money yet the project did not take off,” Ssebaana was quoted as saying in July 2003.

In 2007, Basajjabalaba through his company Sheila Investments also tried to acquire Nakasero Market, located in the centre of the city.

Basajjabalaba was to pay sh1.7b to the city council for the lease of the market. The money was to be paid in installments; and he only paid one installment of sh400m.

But the vendors violently opposed the deal, prompting Museveni to intervene. The President directed that the market be given to the vendors, who are the sitting tenants.

Basajjabalaba consequently sued KCC over the issue and the case is still in court.

KCC gave the market to Basajjabalaba despite the fact that he owed billions to the city for dues he had collected from the Nakasero vendors under a management contract and never submitted to KCC.

Given that the sh250m was refunded, it means that the city businessman is asking sh100b in compensation for a plot for which he only paid sh400m.