A man has dragged government to court seeking to block the proposed relocation of Luzira Prisons and replace it with a five star hotel.
President Museveni in 2022 gave a green light to the idea of giving land currently housing Luzira Prison to a Chinese investor of Tian Tang Group to construct a five star hotel and relocate the maximum security prison to another area.
In suit before the Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala, Deus Arinaitwe, a concerned citizen has sued both the Attorney General and Tian Tang Group Holdings Limited saying it was wrong for the president to give a greenlight to the giveaway of the prison.
“The actions of the president writing a letter directing for the relocation of the prisons and redevelopment of the land into a five-star hotel by Tian Tang Group are in gross violation of rights enshrined under the constitution,” Arinaitwe says.
“The actions and intensions of Tian Tang Group to acquire and redevelop the Luzira prison land through the president are illegal and a gross violation of the rights to property in the constitution under Article 26.”
He says that the president is not mandated by law to direct the acquisition of any land and that in this case, land on which a public institution sits.
The petitioner also says that the ongoing negotiations between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Tian Tang Group in regards the relocation of Luzira prison are illegal as the minister and the president are not mandated to do any sort of bidding for private persons to acquire property.
Declarations
The petitioner wants court to declare the actions of the president in directing relocation of Luzira prison is illegal and threatens rule of law.
He also wants court to issue a permanent injunction against the transfer, acquisition and relocation of Luzira prison.
Court has given the respondents 14 days to defend themselves.