The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kyegegwa, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kyegegwa Town Council has failed to improve on service delivery after their bank accounts were frozen.
The issue arises from 2005 when Jotham Bagyenda claimed to have bought Kyegegwa Playground from Kyegegwa Sub County at 10 Million Shillings. The Sub County then was still under Kyenjojo district.
In 2008, the Auditor General’s report about Kyenjojo district indicated that there was no proof that Bagyenda had bought the land since the receipt he had was not bearing a receipt number from the Sub County receipt books.
The report instructed Kyenjojo leaders than to fence off the area since there was no sale agreement, details of who Bagyenda had dealt with, or any other proof that Kyegegwa Sub County had sold the land.
However, Bagyenda reportedly went into negotiations with the Kyegegwa Sub County leaders intending to take back the land but the negotiations did not yield results and he sought redress from the court.
In 2009, Kyegegwa district was carved out of Kyenjojo district and from 2011 to 2015, the two parties were in court until they were advised to get a government valuer to assess the land and the complainant gets back 75 percent of the money.
According to the Kyegegwa Town Council Mayor, Benjamin Byansi, Ministry of Lands first sent a valuer in 2016 who said the land was worth 70 Million Shillings but Bagyenda rejected the value on grounds that the percentage refundable to him would be too little.
In the same year, another valuer came from the same ministry valued the land at 208 Million Shillings. But that time, it is Kyegegwa town council which had been carved out of Kyegegwa Sub County, that rejected the amount, saying the percentage to give the complainant would be too high.
As the issue escalated, the ministry sent the third valuer in 2017 who said that the land was worth 125 Million Shillings. Before the two parties would agree, Byansi says that Ministry of Lands issued a statement saying that actually, the same land on block 60 belongs to Tooro Kingdom and the cultural institution should be involved in all the transactions.
According to the mayor, Tooro Kingdom Lands Minister, Polly Kateeba in 2018 asked them not to tamper with the kingdom land or compensate anyone.
In January, Bagyenda petitioned the High Court in Fort Portal and a garnishee order was issued against the administrative unit’s Centenary Bank accounts.
A garnishee order is a directive by the court to allow creditors to recover debt from a third party. The order can be carried out by taking money from the debtor’s bank account or one’s salary.
Since then delivery of services has stalled since money from the Central Government and the district amounting to over 200 Million Shillings remains frozen on the accounts.
The town council is now full of heaps of garbage dumped along the roadsides and in markets. Several roads including Kicumbi-Buhunga, Ngunga – Kanyarukoma, Nyansoro, Katente and others are in a poor state.
For instance, Nyamuhani-Musomba road that measures about 5 kilometres has not been repaired for the last two years. It is now full of potholes, its surface is very slippery and running water created deep gullies in it.
Residents say that Hapuuyo-Kijuma, Karumaima and Kakabara-Gasani roads also become impassable during the rainy seasons but the leaders have always ignored calls to have them repaired.
Byansi says that they do not have any option because they cannot withdraw money from their account other than wait for the court to give a final verdict on Wednesday next week.
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