Cabinet: Landlords free to charge rent in dollars

By our reporter

Cabinet has ordered Lands Ministry to remove the proposed ban on charging rent in foreign currency from the Landlords-Tenants Bill before it is sent to Parliament for further scrutiny.

The u-turn comes at the backdrop after landlords complained that the bill is biased and intended to weaken real estate business in the country.

Godfrey Kirumira, the Chairman of Uganda Developers Association recently said the proposed law does not favour landlords.

“The president and parliament should understand the repercussions of the bill if passed into law. It is fake and one sided since we were not involved at all,” he said.

Now, government has once again authorized landlords to charge rent in dollars and other foreign currencies.

Lands Minister Betty Amongi confirmed the U-turn and called for calm and promised to ensure that the landlords and tenants read from the same page.

According to Daily Monitor, State Minister for Housing Dr. Chris Baryomunsi said, ““Our proposal is that the unit of transaction in the payment of rent is Uganda Shillings but we are also saying, the issue of foreign currency should be mutually agreed between the landlord and the tenant bench marked on the actual amount in our currency,”