Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has recommended the cancelation of Kampala City Abattoir’s land title.
He said this on February 15, during his testimony before the Parliamentary Presidential Affairs committee. The ownership and management of the facility has been disputed since 2001 when businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba, through Basajjabalaba Hides and Skins company, took out a 49-year lease for the abattoir from then Kampala City Council at a premium of Shs 600m and a going concern of Shs 900m.
The tag, going concern, assumes the abattoir would remain in business for the foreseeable future. Basajjabalaba’s company was expected to pay an annual ground rent of Shs 2.9m. Basajjabalaba later signed a sub-lease agreement with Dan Kwatampola to manage the facility.
However, management of the abattoir was forcefully taken over by the City Abattoir Traders Development Association (CATIDA), an umbrella body of traders and butchers operating at the City abattoir. The takeover was a resistance to Kwatampola’s administration.
The takeover by CATIDA was overseen by police in December 2013 following endless disputes between Basajjabalaba, Kwatampola and the traders.
Since CATIDA’s takeover, KCCA has never received a penny from Basajjabalaba owing to the conflicts. The ownership of the abattoir’s land title is fiercely contested.
The KCCA technical leadership led by Jennifer Musisi, the executive director, says Basajjabalaba holds the title but Lukwago insists Basajjabalaba sold his interest to Kwatampola.
Lukwago recommended that the title should be cancelled since Kwatampola never sought authorization from KCCA to take out the sub-lease with Basajjabalaba.
He also denied accusations that he allied with the city abattoir traders to block KCCA from collecting revenue from the facility. Committee chairperson Susan Ameru insisted that past revenues that were never remitted have to be paid by the defaulters.
Lukwago accused Basajjabalaba of being behind the mess in most city markets. He said the businessman is a master of fraud and should never be allowed to profit from his crimes in any way.
He said the abattoir should be retained by KCCA as a national facility instead of being sold or leased out. Recently,Basajjabalaba asked for Shs 85bn to forego his interest in the abattoir.