Why Bizibu, head of Custodian Board, is stalked by problems

The word Bizibu, in Luganda, means problems.

William George Bizibu, the executive secretary of the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB), is a man buffeted with problems.

From being at the centre of the parliamentary probe into how 4,000 Asian properties under his care got into mysterious hands to allegations that he grabbed a piece of land at Ssisa, Wakiso, nothing seems to be going his way.

Bizibu started the year with an accident in Kakumiro, which fortunately did not claim his life. Initially there had been reports that his car had been shot at by robbers. It turned out later that he just lost control and found himself and the car, upside down.

Mid way through the year, Bizibu is still being stalked by problems.

Parliament probe

In the parliamentary probe, Bizibu has blamed everyone but himself for the mess in the handling of the Asian properties. With a mixture of drama and emotion,

Bizibu has blamed powerful government officials for being behind the scheme to take the Asian properties.

One of the properties where Bizibu’s contradictions have come to the fore is Plot 24 Kampala Road where Kampala Boulevard stands.

In a comprehensive ruling, Justice Joseph Mulangira settled the matter in 2012 but this week, Bizibu claimed it is still under dispute.

Bizibu has claimed before the probe that his life is under threat.

Once, he even broke down saying “I have been made to do several things I don’t believe in.”

What he has feared to mention are the people behind the threats. Not even in camera.

Yet even his would be avid backers like the minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, who appointed him to that role have started disowning some of his decisions.

While appearing before the land probe chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, Kasaija said he did not approve the giving away of Asian properties as Bizibu and Betty Amongi, the minister of Lands had claimed.

Since he is the chairman of the DAPCB, Kasaija said he did not allocate any properties or authorise their sale without board consent.

Land grabbing claims

To make matters worse, the land probe was this week told that Bizibu had been implicated in land grabbing in Sisa. Ladha Kassam & Company Ltd, the firm that claims the land said before former president Idi Amin expelled Asians in 1972, it had a model farm of cotton, coffee, poultry and animals on the land.

In 1991, it re-possessed the land but recently, Bizibu claimed 130 acres of the same land.

“Our client has learned that DAPCB through its executive secretary, is fraudulently laying claim on our client’s land through a letter enclosed herewith,” reads a July 26 letter by the company lawyers, Lwere, Lwanyaga & Company Advocates, to LPPU.

Bizibu is expected to appear before the probe to defend himself.

Yet from no onwards, Bizibu, it appears will continue being stalked by problems.