Councilors of Mbarara Municipal Council have stuck to their guns and rejected proposals by the executive committee to lease the land formerly occupied by Horizon Bus Park to a single developer. On Monday, several councilors exchanged bitter words with the executive over the development of the 3 acre piece of prime land located in Mbarara town.
Trouble started after councilors reaffirmed their earlier position to council to allocate the land to local investors to develop it under the condominium arrangement. It is a form of property ownershipin which each ownerholds title to hisindividualunit, plusa fractional interestin the common areas of the multi-unit project. Each owner pays taxeson his property, and is free to sellor lease it.
This didn’t go down well with members of the executive led by Wilson Tumwine; the Mayor Mbarara Municipality. The executive wants the land leased off to a single investor at shillings 3.6 billion instead of allocating to local investor who lack capacity to develop it. He wants the land sold off expensively to a single developer to extend better services to residents.
//Cue in: “But as far as we are concerned…..
Cue out…Discounted within council”//
The assertion by Tumwine drew anger from councilors and a bitter exchange of words ensued. They accused Tumwine and his executive of hiding behind an investor to steal the prime land. They proposed that the land be demarcated into small plots and leased to local investors at shillings 2 million each year.
Asiimwe Ntenge, one of the councilors said that the developers will pay shillings 18 million to Mbarara Municipality as ground rent in additional to monthly revenue collections. Binchu Shamsa, the Municipality youth councilor says they will not allow rich people to benefit from the land and leave out the majority poor.
//Cue in: “But what it appears now….
Cue out…….which is very impossible.//
Muzamuru Ssekaja, the speaker Mbarara Municipality sided with the councilors saying that land should be leased to several local investors at shillings 2 million each year. He adjourned the council session to Wednesday this week to deliberate on other matters. The disputed land is located on plot 32-40 on Mbaguta Street.
