Prime
How tycoons grabbed city school land
The land which belongs to Nakasero Primary School and is subject of an investigation by the IGG over its illegal acquisition. Part of it is used as a play ground. PHOTO BY FAISWAL KASIRYE
What you need to know:
A Daily Monitor investigation reveals how a private company colluded with officials from the defunct KCC and the Ministry of Education to take over land belonging to Nakasero Primary School in Kampala.
People involved in land transactions in Kampala know how long and frustrating the bureaucratic delays can be. Not so for the well-connected people behind a series of companies whose acquisition of land belonging to Nakasero Primary School in the city is the subject of an investigation by the Inspector General of Government.
Prestigeous Apartments Limited, whose directors are listed as Ephraim Ntaganda and Bob Kanaabi, both well-connected city businessmen, was incorporated on August 5, 2010 in Kampala.
Three days later, the company wrote to Kampala City Council, the authority that was then in charge of the city, expressing interest in developing Plot 34A Kyadondo Road and 5C Mackinnon Road.
The prime plots are in the heart of the city, located next to the lush green leafy compounds of the rich and famous. State House Nakasero is not too far away; the British High Commissioner’s residence is within spitting distance.
KCC okays deal
Less than a week later, on August 13, 2010, an education officer in the then KCC, Ms Night Alice, wrote back to the firm. “This is to inform you that the division department of education, under which this school falls, has no objection to your intensions of acquiring this piece of land from ULC.”
Under existing regulations, the school authorities should have been consulted about the plans to acquire a lease over land that had, in effect, been set aside for their use or future expansion.
Instead, the process continued with the school kept in the dark. The forces behind Prestigeous Apartments then lodged a request with the Uganda Land Commission (ULC), the custodian of public land, to acquire a lease over, and develop the said prime plot.
The reply came only a day or two later. ULC secretary, K.S.B Mubbala, wrote to the Education ministry’s permanent secretary on August 16, 2010, informing them of the developer’s intensions.
Only two days later, there was a reply. A letter, whose authenticity is the subject of investigation, and bearing the signature of a one Mr John Agaba, as acting permanent secretary, replied indicating a no-objection: “This is to inform you that my ministry has no objection to your intended plans to allocate the land in question.”
On October 29, 2010, less than three months after Prestigeous Apartments was incorporated, it received a lease over the 0.657 hectares of land from the Uganda Land Commission.
The school had no idea part of its allotment had been sold.
As quickly as the company had come onto the scene, it now started going through changes in structure and ownership, a sleek corporate shedding its reptilian skin.
Three days before the lease was issued, the shareholders; Mr Ntaganda (65 per cent) and Mr Kanaabi (35 per cent) had accepted the transfer of all shares and approved the purchase offer by Mahmud Bharwani and Ms Shaida Bharwani at Shs200,000 per share, according to filings at the company registry.
Company changes management
More changes were to follow. Four days after Mr Bharwani and Ms Bharwani were appointed new directors of the company on January 17, 2011, a one Ms Shamira Muhammed Asim then replaced the duo, as ownerships and directorships continued to change.
Mr Bharwani, on March 03, 2011 resolved that the company guarantee a Shs3 billion overdraft facility from Crane Bank Ltd in favour of M/S Bravia Holdings Ltd. A mortgage of the said sum was then registered on the land to secure the overdraft.
With the land now secured, the company finally approached the school.
Mr Ntaganda, who would not be re-appointed as a director for at least another month, wrote to the school on April 19, 2011, expressing interest in the land, six months after his company had been granted a lease over it.
He informed the school officials that his company had taken interest in the land, applied for it through ULC, and obtained a leasehold title.
Now, Mr Ntaganda told the school that as a sign of good neighbourliness, he wanted to share a token of appreciation.
“In a bid to have a good neighbourhood as well as heed to the call for one to do a good turn for thine neighbour, Prestigeous sat and agreed to do something for the children of Nakasero PS,” reads part of the letter.
“This is to request the school management committee to receive and consider our proposal to remove the asbestos roofing from all the school blocks and re-roof them using pre-painted gauge 22 iron roofing of the colour of your choice.”
Feeling particularly generous, Mr Ntaganda added that if, as he suspected, the school had other pressing needs, these, too could be considered. Perhaps a pavilion at what was left of the school playground, he posed?
Alarmed by these developments, the school then raised the red flag with the Education ministry over the loss of its land without its knowledge.
School writes to ministry
On June 14, 2011, the school authorities wrote to the ministry asking to be told how the land had been sold without their knowledge or approval.
It is here that things then become murky.
This newspaper has seen letters, purportedly signed by Mr Lubanga, the permanent secretary, explaining that while the school management committee seemed to “feign ignorance of developments”, some members had admitted having been consulted and that they were in agreement with the proposals.
“My ministry still stands with its earlier position as communicated vide letter of August 19, 2010 by John Agaba,” the letter attributed to Mr Lubanga noted.
However, a year later, Mr Lubanga wrote another letter to Mr Joash Mayanja Nkangi, the ULC chairperson, warning that the commission was promoting fraud.
“The ‘developers’ forged documents and purported to have received a ‘no-objection’ from my office whereas not,” Mr Lubanda said. “Let me put it on record once again that no ‘no-objection’ has ever been issued by my office. The fraudsters you are dealing with are candidates for prosecution. Do not rope my office into this fraudulent transaction.
Ministry denies
“I do not want to be part of this fraud and felony,” Mr Lubanga added. “I urge you, and the law requires you, to cancel/rescind the lease offered to ‘Prestigious Apartments Ltd.” If there are any fetters on ULC, give the developer another plot elsewhere or compensate them but for goodness sake, cancel this fraudulent deal and restitute the property to Nakasero Primary School.”
The matter, which is still under investigation by the Inspector General of Government, offers insights into the collusion between developers interested in public land and government officials, who are supposed to act in public interest.
Mr Henry Kawesa, the ULC secretary, in an interview said: “The matter is before the IGG. There are more documents which indicate that the school management committee, Kampala Capital City, Prestigeous Apartments and Ministry of Education were involved.”
School officials say they hope the IGG’s investigation can pinpoint the identities of the officials involved and those who colluded with the company. Several months since the investigation began, however, there is only silence from the office of the IGG.
