Kampala- The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has launched investigations into how the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was fleeced of billions of shillings by fake claimants who received compensation for the land along the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway yet the land belongs to government.
The land
The land is a government gazzetted Central Forest Reserve in Wakiso District. Documents seen by Sunday Monitor indicate that Wakiso District surveyors and some UNRA officials processed several titles for the forest reserve land owned by the National Forestry Authority (NFA), a government agency.
A huge amount of money, which is not yet ascertained but estimated in billions, was paid out to fake claimants and the IGG Justice Irene Mulyagonja intervened when another Shs4 billion was about to be paid to the masqueraders in July 2014. She subsequently suspended the compensation for the road project.
“We have taken serious note of your directive and information regarding the intended fraud and have, as directed, halted all payments under the project. However, we are concerned that the blanket freeze of all compensation payments rather than in the forest area where the alleged illegalities happened, may have far wider ramifications,” former UNRA executive director Ssebbugga Kimeze wrote to the IGG on August 6, 2014.
He noted that the road project funders, China’s Exim Import Bank, were getting jittery over the slow progress on the road construction because of the unconcluded compensation of the Project Affected Persons (PAPs).
The IGG waived the suspension of the compensation payments except for the contentious forest area, covering three villages of Nakigalala, Katale and Kajjansi.
“We have reviewed our directive and agreed that the directive be revised to cover payments of compensation claims around the forest reserve area,” Justice Mulyagonja wrote back to UNRA on August 19, 2014.
“The order will also include stopping compensation claims premised on certificates for land that were issued after the survey and gazetting of the Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway alignment, which was done on February 8, 2013,” the IGG added.
The IGG spokesperson, Ms Ali Munira, said the investigations are still ongoing but declined to reveal details on the progress.
There are documents showing several plots had been parceled out of the forest reserve with people’s names tagged to them as bona fide owners.
On December 14, 2014, the IGG wrote to NFA seeking clarification on whether the land titles were of the land in the Central Reserve Forest in the three villages.
A report submitted by NFA signed by the executive director Michael Mugisa on March 3, 2015, disowned the titles and described the claimants as masqueraders.
“Under legal notice number 7 of 1932, Kajjansi Forest was demarcated class of forest. The forest referred to as crown land (CL) 467, mapped on sheet numbers 71/3 as per the statutory instruments of 1932, 148 and 1998.
The plots surveyed are found within the CFR (Central Forest Reserve),” Mr Mugisa wrote. Mr Mugisa told Sunday Monitor on Friday that the problem originated from the Lands ministry and Wakiso District lands office.
The partitioned plots are more than 20 belonging to various individuals, including D. Migereko, Ms R. Namubiru, and Ms S. Mbeguya. Others are: Mr R. Eku, Mr S. Kyako & two others, Intraco (U) Limited, Mr J. Baluruno, Mr M. Lubega, Mr Y. Ssenteza & Ms L. Mwende, Lala Apartments, Mr N. Nsubuga, Mr H. Mukasa, Ms J. M. Nabateregga, Ms H. Nassuna, Mr M. Kamoga, Mr H. Mugumya and Mr R. Ssempala.
Common fraud
The UNRA head of corporate communications, Mr Dan Alinange, admitted the IGG is investigating the dubious acquisition of the NFA land and the contested compensations to the claimants. He said it is “highly possible” that it is Wakiso District officials who created the fake titles on the government land.
“They must have apportioned the land to themselves when they learnt that a big project was passing through their area. Usually, government officials build structures overnight because they want to be paid and it is a big challenge for us,” Mr Alinange said.
He said if NFA says the land is a forest reserve, they also have to present a title for the area.
The money
UNRA set aside Shs100 billion to compensate about 700 people on the 51km Entebbe-Kampala Expressway. The road is expected to be complete by 2016 and is funded under a $476m (about Shs1.3 trillion) concessional loan, with China’s EXIM Bank contributing $350m (about Shs1 trillion) and the Uganda government paying $126m (about Shs370 billion).