The embattled Uganda Muslim Tabliq leader Amir sheik Sulaiman Kakeeto has revealed the redevelopment plan for the clock tower land.
During the Friday Juma prayers at clock tower mosque , Kakeeto said the clock tower land belongs to Kampala Capital City Authority. He says in December 2003 the then Kampala City Council leased the 11-acre piece of land to Uganda Tabliq Muslim community till 2052.
Kaketo explains that KCCA has been asking the Uganda Muslim Tabliq community to pay ground rent and other dues to access the land.
In another development Kaketo says that In August 2005, he declined a proposal by the then KCC mayor John Ssebana Kizito to rent the land. The proposal showed that the land would be used to relocate the taxi park to pave way for the redevelopment of the old taxi park.
Some copies of the letters seen by Uganda Radio Network,show Ruth Kijjambu requesting Kakeeto to allow KCCA beautify the area during the 2007 Common Wealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala.
Kakeeto says for a long time the land had been unproductive, and the Uganda Muslim Tabliq community had plans to redevelop it. He says the Uganda Muslim Tabliq Community signed a partnership with city businessman Hassan Basajabalaba to redevelop the area to international standards.
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According to the plans, clock tower shall become the first headquarters of the Uganda Muslim Tabliq Community with a hospital facility and a community hall. He says as the sole investor in the project, the Tabliq community also allowed Basajabalaba, to establish commercial outlets on the land.
Kakeeto told Uganda Radio Network, that similar arrangements were also made for the redevelopment of the contested Nakasero mosque by Haji Mutasa Kafeero.
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He explains at Nakasero the Uganda Tabliq Community shall take 70 percent of the rent from the shops on the ground floor and the Uganda Muslim Suna Association the original owners of the land take 30 percent.
The Uganda Muslim Suna association is owned by Muslims of the Asian origin.
Kakeeto says the Nakasero mosque is over 80 years old, and does not match with the current development in the area,while clock tower land has to be redeveloped to guarantee a long occupation of the property.
But on Tuesday Mohammad Kamoga, told the police probe committee chaired by William Kototyo, the commissioner in charge of land protection police unit investigating the clock tower land wrangle, that Sheik Sulaiman Kakeeto tampered with the land.
He says from 2003 to December 2005 Sheik Sulaiman Kakeeto changed the land from the Uganda Muslim Tabliq Community to three of Hassan Basajabalaba’s companies.
He says the three companies include; Uganda Meat Industries limited, Harks Express and Travelers Choice Uganda limited.
Kamoga also told Uganda Radio Network, at his offices along Market Street, in Kampala, Muslim community shall only embrace any form of development at clock tower on condition that the land is still in the hands of the Muslim community.
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