Ghost investors take Mbale land, disappear

Mbale district is said to have allocated approximately 100 acres of prime land to 5 investors who after 20 years have failed to develop it.

It has now emerged that some of the investors have since disappeared while others have failed to develop the land. 

After failing to achieve the objective, the district is seeking to reclaim the land but finding the initial investors has become difficult. There are fears that they could have mortgaged or sold off the land before moving on.

This facility located in Busoba trading centre along Mbale -Tororo road is a shell of what was meant to be a starch factory. 

In 2007, Mbale district local government donated 13 acres of land to Yogi agro industries limited, to establish a starch factory with the aim of creating jobs.

The factory was expected to employ 1, 500 directly with another 10,000 indirectly since the factory was to boost cassava production and improve the livelihood of Cassava farmers in the eastern and Northern Uganda. 9 years later, the facility has remained a white elephant.

Fredrick Nambafu, the district youth counsellor, says, “Farmers were mobilised to row cassava on large scale in anticipation of ready market from the factory but the outcome was the opposite.”

The director and his team abandoned the facility under unclear circumstances, living many answered questions. The was left under the custody of a caretaker who uses it for cultivation. Aaron Syuwu a former District councilor says “We heard they got a loan of 3 billion Uganda shillings from one of the banks”

Mbale District chairperson Mafabi Muhammad his executive has tasked the Chief administrative officer to avail them with a report on the same.

Then, there is Plot 25 to 38 along Mbiro road in Mbale city which was donated to a Chinese investor in the names of Yun Jin Boo Youn in 2013 to establish an iron sheet factory but the place has been permanently dormant and out of bounds to both the public and the district authorities throught the years. 

Mbale foam mattress factory located along Busiu-Mugiti road in Busiu Town Council sits on 7.5 acres which were originally allocated to Mbale Cement Limited to establish a cement factory, but it changed hands under unclear circumstances.

Mbale District Senior Lands Officer Emma Kigaye says they have been tracing for the investor to no avail.

Information from the online data platform Of The Corporate World indicates that all the three companies were not formally in existence at the time they acquired land from the district.

Kampala Modernity limited was allocated a prime property in Mbale city industrial area to establish a grain-processing plant but it is now a fully-fledged warehouse.

One city ministry’ and Busitema University took the lion’s share of 23 acres and 50 acres each in 2008 and 2013 respectively.

Busitema University was to establish the faculty of medicine. However, the only development here is the university signpost and the crops.

One city ministry pledged to set up a modern health facility, a medical school and a range of other project, but they have not been established. Both the community and local authorities are disappointed with the slow progress.  

Disposal of public land is regulated by Section 34 of the Public Finance and Management act 2015, and the public procurement and disposal of assets act 2003 (amended). 

The law put the chief administrative officer in overall charge of al public assets 

Restricts encumbering of public assets including to permission of Parliament 

Use of open bidding as the preferred method of disposal

The law vests the powers to manage public property in the hands of the chief administrative officer.

Section 64 of the local government act empowers the chief administrative officer to:

•        implement all lawful decisions taken by the district council;

•         guide the local government councils in the application of the relevant laws and policies. but in all the arrangements this was not followed.

Emma Kigaye, Senior District Lands Officer, says most of the technical stages were passed over, “Most of them, I don’t see evidence of the solicitor general being consulted,” Kigaye adds, “There are no safeguards in terms of breach on the side of the investor.”

Former Mbale district chairperson and also the former district speaker Mafabi Muhamad says the district has halted further allocation of land to private partners adding that tighter measures are being put in place to avoid a repeat of the same.

“The council has made a resolution to go through memorandums of understanding page by page” 

The district is now seeking the solicitor general’s advice on the way forward.