By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Nnalongo Estates Ltd has dragged Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to court for breach of contract after they were evicted from the Centenary Park-land to pave way for the construction of the Kampala Fly-Over Project.
In a meeting chaired by President Museveni in October this year, it was agreed that Centenary Park be shared between UNRA and Nnalongo Estates. Kizito and UNRA were supposed to take 2.5 acres each.
READ ALSO: I Won’t Eat Your Road, First Pay Me!-KCCA & UNRA Clash With Nyakana Over Centenary Park Land
Through her lawyers, Muwema & Company Advocates, Sarah Kizito, the proprietor of Nnalongo Estates and wife to former boxing champion Godfrey Nyakana Amooti accuses UNRA of encroaching on her land noting that she surrendered only two acres as per the agreement but instead the authority attempted to demarcate 4.7 acres of the Park-land that KCCA handed over to them.
Kizito further reveals that government had committed to extending her lease on the 2.5 acres she currently occupies at the park prompting her decision not to vacate the place. An agreement to this effect was signed on March 19, 2020, but UNRA and KCCA went against this agreement. (Page)
In an application filed in the land division of the High Court on 12th November 2020, Nnalongo Estates wanted the earlier agreement enforced while ensuring the smooth implementation of the Kampala flyover project.
She also wants the process of finalising the extension of her lease on the land to be finalised by KCCA.
Nnalongo Estate also notes that tenants’ businesses have been adversely affected and disrupted by KCCA and URA and they now live in constant fear of destruction of their properties and eviction yet the flyover project and the businesses are supposed to co-exist under the MoU.
In May 2006, Nnalongo Estates was given a contract to manage the green public open space land at Centenary Park on behalf of city authorities and therefore she constructed permanent structures on part of the piece of land and turned it into bars and parlours and after the expiry of the lease, KCCA attempted to obtain vacant possession of the land in vain.
Meanwhile, the initial plan shows that Nnalongo Estates was supposed to establish a parking yard, a swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts on the park.
The developers were also supposed to plant trees that would create bridal gardens, leisure and conference centres, something that they didn’t. There are fears that the long-standing feud between KCCA and Nnalongo Estates over Centenary Park is could cause taxpayers huge losses.
Its worth noting that in September this year, the KCCA acting legal director Caleb Mugisha while appearing before the Physical Infrastructure Committee (PIC) of Parliament revealed that the permanent structures erected by Nnalongo Estates had never been approved by KCCA which MPs expressed dissatisfaction over why KCCA has never repossessed the land for breach of contract which Mugisha explained that the matter had gone into arbitration as allowed by the contract and the arbitrator had ruled against re-entry by KCCA.
It should also be remembered still that Nnalongo Estates has previously been at the centre of controversy in 2017 when the company blocked KCCA from accessing the same land to enable the demarcation for the National Water Sewerage and Corporation (NWSC) water installations.
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