UGANDA, Kyotera | Real Muloodi News | After an arduous eight-year wait, individual developers who had acquired plots on prison land in Mutukula Town Council, Kyotera District, have received some much-awaited good news.
The district authorities have finally decided to grant them the lease offers they’ve been pushing for since 2011. This marks a significant step toward resolving a long-standing issue concerning land allocation and ownership.
In 2011, Rakai District acquired over 2,200 acres of land at the Mutukula border from Uganda Prison Services. This acquisition followed an agreement to relocate the prison facility to another location outside the town, leaving the Prison Services with 500 acres.
Subsequently, the remaining 2,200 acres were transferred to the district. When Kyotera was carved out of Rakai District in July 2017, it inherited this vast expanse of land.
Mr. Tom Matovu, the Kyotera District land officer, confirmed that individuals who had paid for their land plots, including those who had applied before Kyotera became a district, would receive lease offers.
He noted that the process of allocating plots had faced challenges, as officers in Rakai would allocate land without conducting on-site verifications, leading to misunderstandings among developers.
Moreover, the process was marred by fraudulent activities. Fraudsters presented fake receipts, falsely claiming to have acquired different land plots from Rakai District authorities.
However, through collaboration with their counterparts in Rakai, Kyotera District managed to scrutinize all the claimants and identify the legitimate ones.
Some affected developers reported that they had paid sums ranging from Shs720,000 to Shs750,000 per acre to officials at the Rakai District land office for leases before Kyotera became a district.
Mr Iddi Kazibwe, one such developer, alleged that he had purchased a plot and constructed a residential house on it. However, the district’s physical planner, Ms. Olivia Nakaliri, had threatened to demolish the property, citing illegal construction on the land.
The developers are now requesting an investigation by the Inspector General of Government to determine the reasons behind the district’s attempt to evict them and allocate the same land to others.
In response, Ms. Olivia Nakaliiri, the Kyotera District physical planner, clarified that all individual developers with valid receipts would receive land plots of the same size they had purchased from Rakai authorities.
This land allocation may not necessarily be in the same original area, as the goal is to ensure proper planning of the region.
Mutukula, strategically positioned at the border and rapidly emerging as a business hub, necessitates well-planned settlements to accommodate the growing population.
Mutukula, recently elevated from a town board to a Town Council, is one of the fastest-growing towns in the Greater Masaka area.
Its strategic location at the Uganda-Tanzania border has contributed to its rapid development and transformation into a significant business centre.
Proper planning and land allocation will be essential to accommodate future growth and prevent the emergence of poorly planned settlements or slums.
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