Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) has swiftly distanced itself from a contentious move by some of its rogue officials to illegally allocate corporation land to hundreds of mechanics.
The more than 100 mechanics, acting on the guidance of some invisible hands from Jinja City Hall and officials from Jinja Railway Station had already demarcated plots with the intention of setting up kiosks to operate their trade, posing a significant risk of accidents.
The land in question is situated between the railway line connecting Jinja to Kampala and the Kyabazinga Way, which runs along the Jinja-Malaba Highway.
Upon learning of the illegal allocation that had already become controversial, Jinja City Council (JCC) authorities (JCC being the planning authority) wrote to URC seeking an explanation.
“…the section you are allocating to the mechanics has an active railway line of East Africa with a train service that connects Jinja to Kampala and Kenya, this puts the lives of the mechanics in danger in case of an accident…”,reads in part a letter from Jinja Town Hall.
The letter signed by Deo Kabugo for the Town Clerk (Edward Lwanga said to be on his annual leave) also reminds the URC that, according to the Jinja City Physical Development Plan 2023-2033 that the very section they are allocating has been marked as a reserved corridor for only train/railway activities.
To back up his letter, Kabugo quotes Section 33 of the Physical Planning Act,2010 as amended which stipulates that, “…a person shall not carry out a development within a planning area without obtaining a development permission from a physical planning committee”.
He also adds Section 34 of the Building Control Act 2013, which stipulates that a person shall not carry out a building operation unless he or she has a valid building permit issued by the building committee’.
Listing several other likely consequences arising from the illegal land allocation, Deo Kabugo asked the URC Managing Director to mobilize the mechanics to remove their garbage or else Town Hall will not hesitate to order its enforcement wing backed by the police and military to forcefully kick them out.
“…the position of the Planning Authority is NO GARAGES in that area and you are advised to mobilize the mechanics to remove all illegal structures with immediate effect or else Council will remove at their own cost…”, reads the strongly worded letter.
Deo Kabugo who seems fed up with the perennial confusion also asked URC bosses to ensure that all garages placed on their land (URC’s) 100 meteres close to the National Oil Depots on Mutiibwa road must be removed henceforth because they pose a danger to the entire city.
The URC Acting Managing Director (MD) Musoke David Bulega denied knowledge of any such allocation of the corporation land to the mechanics as is being alleged.
Musoke David Bulega instead said it was Jinja City Council through Edward Lwanga, who had requested URC to allocate the land to mechanics in Jinja.
“…also reference is made to our response to the City Clerk through a one Mr Edward Lwanga concerning a request for allocation of garages and trucs near the railway line, it was categorically stated that the Corporation cannot accommodate the activities on any of its land…”,reads Bulega’s response which implies Town Hall was behind the whole saga.
It was therefore not surprising that the Jinja City Council chose to write this particular letter pretending to be complaining through another officer (Deo Kabugo) because the chief executive Edward Lwanga has initiated the request.
The matter has now been put to rest after URC made its position very clear:
“…the purpose of this communication therefore is to inform you that the Corporation is NOT RESPONSIBLE and has NOT AUTHORISED any one to settle or use its land and as you might be aware, the Corporation embarked on a Country wide exercise to reclaim its land from encroachers…”,reads the letter dated 14th August,2024.
This comes in the wake of increased accusations and counter accusations by residents that some URC officials have been complicit in the illegal allocation of land, while some Jinja City officials have also been accused of being land grabbers.
The city is notorious for having one of the highest rates of land disputes in the country.
The high profile Tirupati land case, involving two foreign investors with support from some locals, is still pending in court, highlighting the complexity and depth of Jinja City’s land woes.
Residents are demanding action from authorities to address the rampant land grabbing, which they say is driven by greed and corruption.
“…we cannot trust our leaders to protect our public land, it’s time for transparency and accountability to ensure that our land is used for the benefit of all, not just a few individuals…”, one resident said.
The situation has sparked calls for an investigation into the alleged collusion between URC and Jinja City officials, as well as measures to safeguard public land and prevent further illegal allocations.
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