Museveni gives CMI land to Kenyan govt
Grace Matsiko
Kampala
President Yoweri Museveni has given land at Kitante, where the command centre
of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and Security is located, to Kenya
to construct a complex to house her diplomatic mission in Kampala.
The decision to give CMI land to the Kenyans was taken on Tuesday during talks
between President Museveni and President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, according to
details filtering out of the meeting.
The talks took place at State House, Nairobi. The meeting was attended by the
Minister of Works, Eng. John Nasasira, Uganda’s High Commissioner, Brig. Matayo
Kyaligonza and several Kenyan ministers and government officials. Mr Museveni
has been on a working visit to Kenya to attend an Inter-Governmental Authority
on Development (Igad) meeting which opened yesterday.
A statement from State House Nakasero said in order to speed up transportation
of goods to and from Mombasa Port, Mr Museveni and Mr Kibaki agreed that Uganda
build its depot at Mombasa Port in exchange for Kitante land. “The Kenyan
government will provide land for the construction of this depot (at Mombasa)
and Uganda will compensate Kenya with land currently under the army at
Kitante,” the statement added without giving details.
The President’s endorsement of the Kitante land for takeover by Kenya is
expected to draw protest from city tycoon, Sudhir Ruparelia, who claims
ownership of the estimated 15-acre high value property. The businessman, better
known by his first name, was given the army land after an earlier prime plot he
had been offered in the city was donated instead to the Saudi Arabian investor,
Prince Al Waweed.
Mr Al Waleed Bin Talal, the owner of Kingdom Hotel Investments was in 2005
given the 14.5-acre land in central Kampala, formerly belonging to Shimoni
Demonstration School. He is worth over $20b, according to Forbes magazine.
The land at Kitante was given to Mr Ruparelia in compensation of Shimoni plot
but on condition that he compensates the ministry with land of equal value but
Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary Rosette Byengoma told Parliament in
August that the tycoon had not yet fulfilled the conditions, a claim Mr
Ruparelia denied.
Mr Ruparelia, who plans to build a modern shopping mall and a hotel on the
Kitante land, is reported to have paid Shs168m of the Sh3b the Uganda Land
Commission asked for as ground rent.
The businessman, who owns the Ruparelia Group with interests in real estate,
banking, finance, hotels among others, said in a brief interview from London
last evening, he has not been informed of the development. “We are the
registered proprietors of that land,” he said, before adding, his business,”
respects the law of the land,” He did not clarify.
But State Minister for Defence Ruth Nankabirwa told Daily Monitor by telephone
from Nairobi last evening that Uganda has been negotiating with Kenya over the
Kitante land. Ms Nankabirwa headed a select committee of government to decide
on Mr Sudhir’s interest in the Kitante land.
She said yesterday, “We went through Sudhir’s papers and found them genuine.
The lease offer was given to him by Uganda Land Commission. Five years down the
road, no activity took place because of negotiations with the Kenyan government
for Uganda to construct a strategic depot at Mombasa in exchange for the land
at Kitante. Going ahead with giving land to Sudhir was not wise.”
She added, “We are consulting the Attorney General so that the land goes back
to the government, even if it means compensating Sudhir because the depot in
Mombasa will help the country a great deal.”
It is not clear how much compensation the businessman will claim for the land
which is valued at well over a billion shillings.
She said, once constructed, the depot at Mombasa will help in quick
transportation of goods from the seaport to Uganda and vice-versa. The depot is
accessed by a railway line, she added.
The minister said the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Lands, the
Solicitor General and the Attorney General’s offices were involved in the land
transaction.
At the Nairobi meeting, Mr Museveni and Mr Kibaki agreed that in order to
ensure that goods and services from East Africa compete favourably at
international markets, the railway line must be cheaper and efficient.
The two leaders said the high cost of transport must be addressed if the region
is to benefit from international markets.
Uganda and Kenya have agreed to set up a joint ministerial commission to
expedite the construction of a railway line that links the two East African
countries to South Sudan and Eastern Congo.
Mr Kibaki and Mr Museveni agreed to set up a joint ministerial commission to
expedite the construction of the railway line and modalities on its future
management. The joint ministerial commission will comprise the two countries’
ministers of transport, finance and attorneys general.
Work on the railway line will commence in March next year.
Other areas discussed included ICT and infrastructure development, which the
two leaders said were the prime movers and necessary accelerators of
development in the region.
__________________________________________________________________
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo!
Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com_______________________________________________
Ugandanet mailing list
Ugandanet@kym.net
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet
% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
---------------------------------------
