Uganda, Tororo | Real Muloodi News | Mr Peter Ogwang, the State Minister for Economic Monitoring in the Office of the President, has called for an investigation into the alleged sale of Tororo Hospital land.
The hospital land, located in Nyangole A village, Eastern Division, in Tororo Municipality, was under the management of the Uganda Land Commission. However, the land has now been divided into plots with permanent structures constructed on it.
“It’s sad to note that public land has been sold to private developers and I am sure that it’s our people who assisted them to acquire the land by giving them titles. I, therefore, direct my team to initiate an investigation to ascertain circumstances under which these individuals acquired the land,” Mr Ogwang said.
“It’s disheartening to see the government channelling resources towards improvement of people’s lives, and a section of people are diverting them for their personal gains and moreover, they are doing it with a lot of impunity that we want to break,” Mr Ogwang added.
The minister called for the investigation on Monday 27th June 2022, while in the district to monitor the implementation of government programmes.
The alleged hospital land sale has not yet been confirmed, but some of the occupants on the land claim they acquired their plots from the district officials through their agents, who encouraged them to buy the plots.
The District Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Dunstan Balaba, confirmed they are aware of the fraudulent actions on the land.
He said as part of efforts to protect public land, the district council has allocated funds in the next financial year to have all land surveyed and titled.
“This is just one of the many cases of encroachment on public land we have recorded and all this has been as a result of ignoring to survey and title public land. However, we have taken it as a priority in our planning and so far, we have secured 10 titles; we expect to secure more in the next financial year,” Mr Balaba said.
The hospital had plans to relocate its staff quarters to the said land, due to the current quarters being affected by Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
The SGR project acquired more than 200 hundred acres of land in Tororo Municipality to build, among other things, the railway station that will serve the Kampala and the northern route lines.
During a visit to Tororo Hospital by members of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Dr Thomas Ochar the hospital medical superintendent, told the MPs they were in a dilemma because Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) had not compensated them for the land housing the staff quarters.
“We feel that the valuation of four years back is outdated and we are demanding for the Standard Gauge Railway to revalue our properties to match the current cost of living; otherwise, we are ready to vacate to pave the way for the construction of the railway,” Dr Ochar said.
The district chairperson, Mr John Okeya, revealed that the minister’s coming is a tremendous relief because the district has lost most of its public land.
The communications officer of the SGR, Mr David Mugabe Alele, said that the compensation of institutions such as health facilities and schools involves large chunks of money. He, however, added that plans are underway to implement the compensation.
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