Kampala University risks losing buildings housing Masaka campus

Kampala University (KU) risks losing buildings housing the university’s campus in Masaka City after authorities questioned how the institution acquired the prime property.

The KU vice chancellor and proprietor, Prof Badru Kateregga, has consistently said he passed through the right channels to acquire the land on which the university campus is located.

But during a heated council meeting last week, chaired by the city speaker, Mr Achilles Mawanda, councillors said though there is a purported council minute talking about the swap deal in which the university was supposed to surrender a two-acre piece of land in the city in exchange for the buildings housing the campus, the title of the said land is not in the council inventory. 

The councillors, led by Zaharah Nalubyayi, the Kimaanya Ward representative, claim KU breached the agreement of the swap deal since they did not only fail to submit the title of the said land on Nalubale Street, but also they (Kampala University) did not pay rental arrears of more than Shs13m .

“Available council records show that the university had agreed to pay [Shs13m], but this did not happen –making the validity of the swap deal questionable.

Former Masaka City speaker Stephen Lukyamuzi whose council is said to have made the recommendations for the swap deal dismissed the claims.

“The council I presided over between 2011 and 2016 never gave out that land, the proposal [for the swap deal] was tabled, but council did not approve it,” he said.

The KU Public Relations Officer, Mr Julius Ssekatwa, declined to comment on the matter, insisting that he needed to first consult Prof Kateregga. 

Kampala University has been running a campus in Masaka for the last 22 years.