Masaka councillors, CAO clash over sale of district property

Mr Ssenkungu said the district is in advanced stages of shifting its headquarters from Masaka City to Buwunga Sub-county and it will be hard to shift some of the assets.

“Several departments lack vehicles yet we have several vehicles parked at the district because they are beyond repair. We can sell these old vehicles and raise some money to procure at least one new vehicle for a particular department,” he said during an interview at the weekend.

Mr Bruno Mugumya, the councillor representing persons with disability at the, said the eucalyptus forest located within the city boundaries, which is owned by the district, should also be cut and they sell the poles.

“We risk losing that [eucalyptus ] forest which was planted to help the district generate revenue, we also have some mature trees in Kizungu –Kitabiro near the district headquarters , these trees are  becoming too old  and we need to act very fast  so that the district can get something out of them,” he said.

On the other hand, the district CAO insists they cannot sell any district property now as they have to wait for Local Government Minister Raphael Magyezi’s guidance on the matter.

“Since there is still a standoff between new cities and districts over ownership of properties that were previously owned by the district, I cannot sanction the sale of any property,” he said.

“We are yet to get a statutory instrument from the minister to advise on the fate of the district property in the cities and of course there are other processes and procedures that have to be followed before such properties are disposed of,” he added.

Ever since Masaka was elevated to a city in July 2020, a section of leaders in Masaka District have been opposed to a move by city authorities to take over some district property, citing an earlier agreement they had with them.

However, the district leaders said they agreed with the city leaders that the former retain some properties such as the four-acre piece of land at Kitabiro, among others.

Some of the other properties the district reportedly decided to retain include a 2.5-acre piece of land at Ssaza Hill, a building near Masaka Central Market on Elgin Street, and another four-acre piece of land at Bwala Hill.

Background
According to the guidelines issued by Minister Raphael Magyezi in 2020 , all tangible and intangible assets of districts, former municipal councils, division councils, annexed town councils, and sub-counties falling within the territorial boundaries of the city are supposed to be the latter’s property.

These include markets, administrative buildings, bus parks and recreation centres.