KCCA runs to appeals court to stop UMA show grounds parking from being taken over

Authorities at City Hall have run to the Court of Appeal in a last ditch attempt to stop a businessman from taking over a piece of land previous used as a playground and car park during the annual Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) show.

It’s an arduous battle for Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) at a time when Ugandans have been accustomed to seeing arcades and other commercial infrastructure pop up inside sports grounds in the city.

Already at Lugogo itself, parts of the former playgrounds have long been taken over by businesses, and Nakivubo Stadium gave way to a major business complex. Now KCCA is up in a seemingly losing battle to save a playground.

And while at it, KCCA  will also contest the legality of Shs500 million a city court awarded to Lukyamuzi Investments Limited on top of the orders to vacate the contested land.

Last week, High Court Judge Andrew Bashaija ordered KCCA to pay Shs200 million in general damages and Shs200 million special damages as well as interest to Lukyamuzi Investments after the Authority lost a civil suit to the business that convinced the court that it had all rights over the piece of land.

Lukyamuzi Investments argued that Uganda Land Commission had leased to the land for a period of five years, extendable to 49 years.

Justice Bashaija decreed that KCCA should hand over vacant possession of the property and also pay the said damages because it was unlawful for the Authority to refuse to grant Lukyamuzi Investments permission to fence the suit land yet the latter had a lease on the land.

The court said it had ascertained that Uganda Land Commission was authorised to deal with that land as was indicated at the KCCA Land Information Centre.

The land consists of Plot 10A – 16A Naguru Link, Coronation Road, Lugogo. The land is said to be former crown land, hence making the Uganda Land Commission the rightful authority to deal with the land in question, as it is considered government property.

KCCA, on the other hand, contends that it was granted a 99-year lease for the same property by the Kampala District Land Board in 2000. The Authority also contends that they had occupied the land uninterrupted for more than 12 years before the coming into force of the 1995 Constitution and the Land Act (1998), which, according to the current Land Act, makes them bona fide occupants of the same property.

Judge Bashaija reasoned that the suit land was historically used as coronation ground for kings and queens in Buganda Kingdom and was designated as Crown Land by the colonial masters, who vested it in the Government of Uganda at independence.

The judge said that the land was public property vested in the Uganda Land Commission and ordered that a freehold certificate of title that KCCA claims to have be cancelled by the commissioner for land registration.

KCCA has hitherto utilised the land by renting it to Uganda Manufacturers Association to use as a parking lot during their annual trade fair.

The development comes a decade after intervention by both President Museveni and Parliament stopped KCCA from leasing the 25-hectare playground on Jinja Road to investors Nalongo Estate and Valley View Estates, two parties that had taken interest in the prime property.

Lukyamuzi Investments Limited lawyer Joseph Kyazze, of Magna Advocates, declined to comment on the matter, citing the sub judice rule that precludes discussion of a matter before its conclusion in a lawful court.

A scheduling conference has been set for February 6 to agree on the issues to be heard by the appeals court.