The State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SH-ACU) has in custody the Executive Secretary of the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) George William Bizibu on allegations of falsely obtaining money from different people claiming to allocate them properties.
Bizibu was arrested together with his accountant.
“It is alleged that the duo are fond of defrauding people by issuing false allocation letters and reciepts after extorting huge sums of money,” SH-ACU tweeted.
“@AntiGraft_SH in liaison with @PoliceUg have arrested both the Executive Secretary & the Accountant of the departed Asian property custodian board for falsely obtaining money from various persons while purporting to allocate them properties. #ExposeTheCorrupt.
DAPCB was formed to handle the process of Asians who were expelled during Idi Amin’s regime to have their properties returned to them.
The board was established in 1973 to manage all assets left behind by the 50,000 Asians who were forced out by the late dictator Idi Amin. Under the NRM Government, departed Asians could either repossess their properties or be paid compensation provided they could prove ownership.
However, top officials of the DAPCB have come under increasing scrutiny regarding their competence and integrity after being overruled by the Attorney General and various courts in regard to management of the properties of the departed Asians.
Weeks after the Attorney General said that the Custodian Board Divestiture Committee does not have powers to repossess, manage or allocate any property that has been dealt with by the Finance minister, there are growing questions over whether DAPCB, which was formed to take care of the properties originally owned by deported Asians, should remain operational.
In his March 22, 2022 legal opinion to President Museveni regarding management of the properties of the departed Asians, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka said: “The recommendation of the COSASE sub-committee for Departed Asians Property Custodian Board, to initiate the process for cancellation of repossession certificates acquired and any substitute titles is not capable of implementation in light of the existing case law.”
dfcu Bank and Monitor Publications Crown Season 7 Rising Woman Champions, Celebrating Uganda’s Top Women EntrepreneursIn an interview with this publication last week, the Attorney General said: “It was very clear, the recommendations by COSASE that they were asking us to do; were not tenable under the legal regime, especially the cancellation of certificate of title.”
This was after a sub-committee of Parliament’s committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase), following a two-year investigation into the operations of DAPCB, recommended that properties that were wrongly misappropriated be returned to the rightful owners.
But Kiryowa says this is not legally tenable, and can lead to various lawsuits against the Government.
However, it should be remembered that past court rulings and legal opinions regarding the matter have gone against DAPCB.
For instance, on August 15, 2019, former Attorney General William Byaruhanga told the Ministry of Finance that the departed Asians’ properties had already been repossessed by the original owners and hence no need of being reallocated.
The former Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Keith Muhakanizi, had also warned against allocation of properties belonging to departed Asians.
In a March 23, 2018 letter to the executive secretary of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (DAPCB), George William Bizibu, Muhakanizi warned that it is only court that can direct the cancellation of a certificate of title of such property and not the board or its members, some of whom are ministers.
