Returning Asian property is a wise decision- Museveni

Rukungiri, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has said that returning property of Asians who were expelled during the regime of former Ugandan president Idi Amin Dada was a wise decision. 

The properties were left behind by Asians who were expelled from Uganda by Amin on August 4, 1972 and later, in 1983,  listed under the management of the Departed Asians’ Property Custodian Board. reports indicate that 1,676 of the properties had been sold, repossessed, and compensated by 2009, while some 3,226 remained unsold and unclaimed.

But the process stirred controversy amongst government officials, members of the Asian community and Ugandan businessmen who had taken over the properties after the expulsion. President Museveni said there was no reason for Ugandans to grab Asian property adding that such actions create a bad reputation for the country. 

Museveni said this on Monday evening while campaigning at Rukungiri Municipal Stadium in Rukungiri district. The campaign meeting was attended by selected National Resistance Movement (NRM) party leaders from Rukungiri and Kanungu districts. 

Museveni says that if Uganda had completely grabbed Asian properties, Asians would defame Uganda like the way they defamed the slain Zimbabwean president Robert Gabriel Mugabe. 

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