Mbarara city councilors accuse city clerk of misappropriating funds used to procure land

MBARARA – Mbarara City councillors have tasked the City Clerk to appropriately account for more than Shs 624 million used to procure two different pieces of land that were meant for the construction of a daily banana market.

The resolution to buy the land was approved by council during the 2017/2018 financial year.

The said pieces of land in question include; one in Biharwe ward Mbarara City, North Division and another in Kikoona, Nyakayojo Mbarara South Division measuring 0.046 hectares at Shs 256 million and 1.5020 hectares (3.7 acres) at Shs 368 million respectively.

The Councillors argue that the two pieces of land could not cost Shs 620 million yet a piece of land in Mbarara City currently goes for only Shs 30 million today.

On Monday, the Councillors held an extraordinary council meeting in which Councillors tasked the City Clerk, Contracts Committee and the procurement officer to explain the heavy expenditure spent on purchasing two plots of land to allocate the city markets that are currently operating on the main roads.

The multipurpose committee headed by Eunice Asiimwe, highlighted that the land in question is small compared to the amount of money spent on its purchase.

“This Council carried out a field tour to ascertain the ongoing road works and procurement of market lands for Kikoona and Biharwe market but there was no value for money on Biharwe land because that land is small compared to the money which council allocated for the purchase. Members requested that the people concerned should avail us with the documents pertaining the procurement of those two market lands but up to now in vain,” Asiimwe explained.

The Committee further recommended that the city leadership did not consult the land users that are the city divisions when procuring the pieces of land in question.

“You might find that some people don’t know where these lands are so it would have been good to involve them during their  procurement. So, there is need for clarity from the technical team i.e. the physical planner and staff surveyor; clearly stating the status of ownership and boundaries of the purchased pieces of land,” said Asiimwe.

Sheebah Aunich Byentaro, Councilor representing Mbarara City North B says, the cost of both pieces of land in Kikoona Nyakayojo and Biharwe were hiked raising several queries.

“We walked and reached those areas but even the one who headed us would not tell the exact boundaries of that land. And I asked myself whether there is somebody who always assesses government money before it’s released to purchase such land,” Byentaro asked.

“Besides, I come from Biharwe and depending on the size, like 50 by 100 acres, at most it would cost Shs 30 million but not all that huge sum of money that the executive spent on the land for the city markets,” she added.

Byansi Muhammad, City Councillor representing Kakoba division claimed there was fraud in the procurement of the two pieces of land in question calling for arrest of the suspects.

“We want to see where they advertised, we also want to know the bidders and also want to know what the procurement officers recommended on the bought market lands. Were they involved or not because these technocrats have become thieves and through you Mr speaker, I request that they should go to police and be investigated,” Muhammad emphasized.

Jenina Kyomuhendo, the Female Youth City representative, called for documentation to ascertain the measurements and amount spent on the land.

“Sometimes we talk about issues without evidence so we want to get it from the horse’s mouth. Let the Town Clerk avail us with documentation showing the size of the land and how much was spent on each plot of land and from there we can build on with our discussions from an informed point of view,” says Kyomuhendo.

Priscah Mulongo, the Deputy City Mayor confirmed that the two pieces of land were bought but did not reveal the size and the money spent.

“It’s true the said two plots of land were bought and we even need to pay the balance because we went there as executive committee members but the figures are with the payee,” says Mulongo.

Richard Mugisha, the deputy City Clerk added that they went through the due processes of procuring the said land.

“Sometimes I need to know what honourable members are asking. Council is buying those two lands and I know in the last financial year, Council made partial payment on both two pieces of land.”

He also explained to Councillors to understand the product input process- product relationship system of buying land as the government is different from the way individuals buy land.

“Like what honourable Sheebah said, a plot of land in Biharwe costs about Shs 30 million but how does the government procure? Do people pay taxes when they are buying? What forms of taxes does one pay when procuring for the government? So, sometimes we need to understand these contexts,” Mugisha explained.

However, Councillors remained unconvinced and insisted that the town clerk should provide proper documentation of land purchase for the market allocation.

“We didn’t ask about the history and procurement process. How much did you buy each of the two pieces of land? And how big is that land? Do we have to wait for the processes to know how much was spent on land purchase?” Kyomuhendo further asked.

Through the Speaker, the deputy Town Clerk asked James Agaba, the Principal Commercial Officer (PCO) Mbarara City who also doubles as the chairperson Contracts Committee to avail all the documents related to the land matter in question to ascertain the size and how much was spent.

According to the provided documents, Biharwe land meant for matooke daily market totalling to 0.046 hectares was bought from one Emmanuel Ayorekire approximately at Shs 363 million and another piece of land was bought from Mbarara Pensioners Co-op Savings and Credit Society Ltd located in Mbarara City South approximately 1.5020 hectares at Shs 256,520,000.

The City Deputy Clerk also confirmed that each acre was valued at Shs 128 million.

Mugisha also requested the council to stop drawing conclusions on projects which are not yet completed.

“Monitoring is okay but when people go to monitor what is going on, some of them come up with conclusions even when the process is still ongoing. I request that the procurement process be looked into but let the process be completed so that a report comes to Council when land has been fully acquired,” he explained

John Kavigi, the Male Youth city councillor called on the government anti corruption authorities to investigate the matter further.

“There is sometimes when we really need a CID because even the Multipurpose committee recommended that there is no value for money on the bought market land because it’s under the electricity system gazette and we also need to include the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) to investigate it more because even the DPC is not fit to handle,” says Kavigi.

However, the Speaker Bonny Tashobya asked Councillors to cease fire not to lose their supreme powers but to first dig for the facts before petitioning the matter to the higher authorities.

“You have brought this report for discussion and before discussing it you start mentioning the RCC. Let’s first discuss it and we come up with a resolution because I don’t want to ruin my council into something that we have not ascertained,” Tashobya advised.

“I don’t want to be conclusive on a matter that I have no evidence of because when you say this person is a thief, you need to prove it with facts. So, we need to ascertain the size of the land? What does the evaluation say? What was the process? And who sold us the land? How much? Then there we can ascertain that this plot is valid or invalid by the amount of money bought,” he added.

https://thecooperator.news/gulu-city-council-seeks-shs3-4-billion-supplementary-budget/

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