Meet Mohammed Alibhai, the man who owns over 900 Departed Asians Properties in Uganda  

Mohammed Alibhai’s name has always been dropped in several Ugandan publications as one of the wealthiest individuals in the country.

Unknown to many, Alibhai’s financial chest is from the vast real estate pegged on his name which is subject to Parliament’s investigation by the select task force of the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory authorities, and State enterprises (COSASE) probing the departed Asians property mess.

He has made his money off the properties he claimed from the Departed Custodians Board under questionable circumstances.

Now, complaints are in high gear not only in Uganda Parliament, but also Canadian authorities are finalising plans to request the government of Uganda to hand him for trial, as Canadian Citizens who are part of the Ismaili Community living in Uganda prior to 1972 Idi Amin’s deportation order, owned these properties.

When the government of Uganda resolved to return property back to Asians, Alibhai was one of the shrewd people who sought powers of attorney from Canadians who feared to return to Uganda to make their legitimate claims. Others did not have interest at the time. However, now many families want their property back but Alibhai is fighting tooth and nail to keep them, despite having made billions from the said properties.

The businessman, who according to a 2007 published report in the New Vision newspaper, is one of the wealthiest individuals in Uganda, has over 900 properties pegged on his name.

These properties however, it has been revealed, he obtained them in questionable circumstances.

And one of these days, Alibhai might face the greatest test of his life, after Speaker Rebecca Kadaga sanctioned COSASE to take the probe of the departed Asians property mess to Canada and United Kingdom.

The subcommittee will hear and verify claims made by managers of the Asians Custodians Board and the current owners of the property, in what is set to be table shaking exercise.

Hundreds of Asians who relocated to Canada after Idi Amin evicted them from Uganda in the early 1970s, either gave powers of attorney to people who have been telling them lies about their property statuses in Uganda, or, lost property all together to dubious people.

Some of the properties were also grabbed by powerful individuals and threatened the departed Asians into silence.

A January 8, 2020 notice written by Emmanuel Bakwega on behalf of the Clerk to Parliament, says, COSASE will be travelling to Canada, and later to United Kingdom in search of Ugandans who were either paid, or never claimed their properties.

The MPs will visit Toronto and Vancouver cities for this exercise mid and later this month.

By the time the committee returns, the property industry might be shaken in a way many people will not expect.

Alibhai according to Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB), is one of the people who illegally reclaimed and later sold off these properties through his company Alderbridge Real Estate and Management Ltd.

DAPCB through sessions they have had with the COSASE sub-committee in the past months revealed that they have information pinning Alibhai and top government officials and tycoons who illegally repossessed and sold off these properties under questionable circumstances.

Below is a list of 45 Asians’ properties Muhammad Alibhai has been accused of repossessing under questionable circumstances.