Tenants push for ownership of Kkumbu Housing Estate

Tenants currently occupying Kkumbu Housing Estate in Masaka have asked city authorities to allow them a stake in redevelopment of the estate.

The Old Kkumbu Housing Estate, which was constructed by the colonial administration in 1947, has 53 housing units. It sits on Plot 55-56 Old Bukoba Road and Plot 98-104 Forest Road in Kimaanya/Kyabakuza Municipality. 

 Through their area city representative (Kimaanya Ward), Ms Zahara Nalubyayi, the tenants want the authorities to accept their proposal to purchase the houses they are currently occupying so that they can redevelop the estate to meet the current city standards. 

“I met the residents of Kkumbu estate who raised several complaints ranging from dilapidated buildings and flooding of their area, among other challenges. But they have not been helped by the Kimaanya-Kabonera Municipality authorities, and they think getting full ownership will help them settle peacefully,” she told this publication at the weekend.

 Mr Paul Ssentongo, one of the tenants, said: “We don’t want to spend our hard-earned money on repairing the houses and thereafter, we are ordered to vacate,” he said. 

Ms Rose Nayiga, the chairperson of the Old Kkumbu Cell, wants to know who actually owns the land housing the estate.

“In 2009, we were approached by officials from Buganda Land Board (BLB) with intentions of surveying the land and start collecting annual nominal ground rent (Busuulu), but the city council also claims ownership of the same estate,” she said.

 Some of the tenants claim that they occupied houses in Old Kkumbu Estate two decades ago and city authorities are aware about their occupancy.

Masaka City Speaker Achilles Mawanda said they have since asked the city council committees on finance and social works to look into the concerns of sitting tenants and present a report in the next council meeting.

Masaka City Clerk Christopher Daniel Kaweesi said a plan, announced in the past years, to evict the sitting tenants and redevelop the estate had been halted.

“I want to assure residents of Old Kkumbu Estate that there is no immediate plan to evict them. It is true that the land belongs to Masaka City Council according to available records, and I’m not aware of an authentic private title/s for Old Kkumbu Estate,”he said.

But the Kabaka’s former deputy chief in Buddu (Masaka) Abdullah Kato recently said some titles were returned to the Kabaka (King) of Buganda in 2013, and they are yet to be transferred.

“So, the city authorities need to work with the Buganda Land Board (BLB) if they want to continue using that land,” he said at the time.

BLB manages land and property returned to the Buganda Kingdom under the Restitution of Assets and Properties Act of 1993.