Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA council has resolved that the Authority repossesses the plots of land assigned to private developers in the Old Taxi Park because they acquired them illegally.
Private developers under the protection of security officers stormed the newly renovated old taxi park on Sunday and cordoned off four plots of land.
They blocked the main exit of the taxi park, blocking a number of stages including Mengo, Mukono Coasters Stage A and B, Ntinda, Luzira, Mbuya, Kawolo-Lugazi, Bweyogerere Jokas, Muyenga, Ggaba, Kansanga, and Kiruddu among others.
On Wednesday, the City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago informed the councilors that after Sunday’s events, his office engaged the KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka about the matter. The ED informed him that the authority was implementing what is in the Memorandum of Understanding MoU between the Central Government and the developers.
In the MoU signed in 2017, it was agreed that the developers are allowed to use their land as KCCA plans to compensate them before carrying out any developments.
Records at KCCA from 2000, the defacto Kampala City Council (KCC) obtained a 99-year lease from the Kampala District Land Board on that piece of land to construct a taxi park. KCC later subleased part of the land to 15 developers in 2005.
However, Lukwago says that the sublease was executed without permission from the now-defunct Country and Town Planning Board for change of use as was required under the Town and Country Planning Act, which has since been repealed.
Lukwago now says that the MoU between the government and the developers is null and void given the illegalities associated with their acquisition.
Although the park sits on 3.01 hectares, only 0.949 hectares belong to KCCA while the remaining 2.1 hectares belong to private developers. Lukwago also told the council that the KCCA technical wing has declined to avail copies of MoUs entered by the government and KCCA for scrutiny.
Since 2000, KCCA has entered several MoUs with the developers after being dragged to the court for failing to vacate the land.
In January 2017, ten of the 15 companies entered a consent judgment with KCCA and agreed to develop the park collectively in accordance with the design and structural master plan, which were to be approved by KCCA within twelve months after signing a consent judgment.
They also agreed that after approval of the plan, KCCA would compensate any of the above developers who would have lost part or all their land.
Again in December 2020, KCCA entered an MoU with the developers agreeing that KCCA would grant them (developers) vacant possession of their respective properties immediately after renovating the park before taxis can return there such that the developers develop their plots further.
Lukwago told the council that the Technical wing has not furnished them with any of the MoU and hence recommended that a resolution be passed compelling the office of the Executive Director to present the MoUs to the City Executive Committee.
