Tycoon Hassan Basajjabalaba is seeking for 85 billion Shillings from government to forego his interest in the Kampala City Abattoir.
Through Basajjabalaba Hides and Skins company, the city businessman secured a 49-year lease for the abattoir in 2001 through the then Kampala City Council at a premium of 600 million Shillings and a going concern of 900 million Shillings. The going concern is the assumption that the abattoir would remain in business for the foreseeable future.
The company was expected to pay an annual ground rent of 2.9 million Shillings, but Basajjabalaba later entered into a sub-lease agreement allowing one Dan Kwatampola to manage the facility.
However management was later forcefully taken over by the City Abattoir Traders Development Association (CATIDA), an umbrella body of traders and butchers operating at City Abattoir, in an attempt to resist Kwatampola's administration.
The takeover by CATIDA was overseen by the police in Dec 2013 following endless disputes between Basajjabalaba, Kwatampola and the traders. Police said the development was aimed at averting bloodshed and maintain law and order.
According to Benny Namugwanya State Minister for Kampala, the authority has not been able to get remittances from Basajjabalaba over the mess in the management of the city abattoir. She argues that the Minister in charge of Kampala directed in 2014 that KCCA purchases the lease from Basajjabalaba and manage the abattoir but they are still unable to do so due to lack of funds.
Susan Amero, the vice chairperson of the Presidential Committee hinted that a clique of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is hiking the cost of compensation to Hassan Basajjabalaba in order to secure kickbacks.
MPs Peter Ogwang representing Usuk county and Adjumani Woman MP Jessica Ababiku argued that due to incompetence KCCA had failed to perform its function of developing and successfully managing the abattoir.
