MPs on the Parliamentary Committee for Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), were yesterday shocked after the proprietor of Mestil Hotel in Nsambya Janet Kobusingye, told them that she lost all documents for the Naguru-Nakawa estate land.
Without remorse, she astonished legislators, when she said that all the relevant documents relating to the sales and purchase of the said land were burnt to ashes in a fire incident.
She added that it is excruciatingly difficult to trace documents related to that land, since all her aidees and brokers with whom she coopearated in the purchase died, while others disappeared mysteriously.
The Rukiga county MP Roland Ndyomugyenyi scoffed at Kobusingye, saying she could not take the matter lightly by saying she doesn’t possess any receipts for Shs.1 billion, which she paid to purchase the land, and accused her of trying to execute a cover-up mission.
“The land purchase agreements are not one sided, they were owned by both parties. I think in this issue of the documents having been burnt, and there is no any other document, for example we wanted to know very importantly, how much consideration was paid for these plots in Naguru, ” said Ndyomugyenyi.
“It is very key for this committee. At least you should be having estimate of how much total consideration was paid,” he added.
Ndyomugyenyi further tasked Kobusingye to present before the committee the sale and purchase agreement, to prove how she acquired the Naguru land.
To that effect, the committee gave her an ultimatum of up to Monday 14 February next week to produce relevant documents to prove ownership of the land, where the hotel was constructed, else face serious reprisals.
The 3.6 acre-land which formerly belonged to the Uganda Railways was supposedly compensated to Kobusingye from the Uganda Lands Commission for her land in Naguru, which was taken over by the government.
It was the second time for Kobusingye to appear before COSASE, for interrogation on how she acquired the land at Nsambya, a city suburb in Kampala which had been unpopulated by government, and reserved for investors.
She is among the 10 private investors the Committee has been investigating on how they possessed the huge chunks of land belonging to Uganda Railway Corporation.
The committee also questioned how Kobusingye got Nsambya land worth sh69 billion as compensation for Naguru land worth sh1.5 billion only.
In November 2021, the Committee also probed then Mbarara City North MP Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari, one of the beneficiaries, on how he possessed three plots of the Railway land.
At the time, Rukaari had acquired the three plots in Port Bell and Mulago at 357 Million Shillings.
However, he also surprised committee members when he said he did not remember where he kept receipts for purchase of the said land.
His case was seconded to the Inspectorate of Government for further investigation.
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