|
|
Uganda: Govt Given 14 Days to Show Buganda Assets
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Monitor (Kampala)
25 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Yasiin Mugerwa
As the stand-off between the central government and Buganda kingdom continues, the Clerk to Parliament has given the Attorney General only 14 days within which to present a detailed list of all assets Buganda wants returned to the Kabaka.
In a letter dated July 17, by Mr Robert Tumukwasibwe who wrote on behalf of Mr Aeneas Tandekwire, the government among other issues is required to show cause as to why Buganda's assets are yet to be returned to the Kabaka.
"[Please note that] you are required to answer the questions within two weeks," the two page letter to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Attorney General, Dr Khiddu Makubuya, reads in part.
"Secondly, you're requested to file with the undersigned [Leader of Government Business, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi and the Solicitor General] the text of your response for record purposes as required under rule 35 (7) (d) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament." The new instructions to the government coincide with the arrest of three kingdom officials on charges of inciting violence, promoting war, sectarianism and terrorism.
Kampala Central MP Erias Lukwago (DP) raised Buganda's concerns to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Ssekandi as a question for oral answers (by government).
"I am glad that Parliament has accepted to demand for a list of Buganda's assets," Mr Lukwago told Daily Monitor yesterday.
"We want to know why the government has failed to return Buganda's assets since 1993."
The delayed return of Buganda Kingdom's property still in government possession, has, however, been a sticking point in the kingdom's dealings with the central government. Mengo, the seat of Buganda Kingdom has repeatedly asked for the return of all her property to enable the kingdom appropriately run its developmental programmes.
The assets still managed by the government include kingdom county headquarters (Amassaza) and official estates that belonged to kingdom chiefs before the abolition of cultural institutions in 1966. The central government during Milton Obote's regime confiscated the properties including land.
But though the cultural institutions were restored in 1993, some properties have never been returned to the kingdom to date.
Interestingly, the Traditional Rulers [Restitution of Assets and Properties] Act, 1993 and the 1995 Constitution agree that all assets that were confiscated by the Obote I regime be returned to the relevant traditional rulers.
The few that have been returned include Mengo Palace, Kiggo Prison, the presidential lodge at Makindye and the Supreme Court Building.
The government has in the past engaged the kingdom in negotiations to have the remaining properties returned and to discuss its federo (federal) demands but these talks have yielded little.
But according to the Clerk's letter to government, quoting Mr Lukwago's question said: "Would the minister present to the House a full list of all assets that were supposed to be returned to the institution of the Kabaka of Buganda after negotiations as provided under Section2 (5) and (6) of the Traditional Rulers Act."
However, according to a copy of the question for oral answer seen by Daily Monitor among the issues, Mr Makubuya will be required to provide relevant answers to the controversy of the 9,000 square miles claimed by Buganda.
"Is the 9000 square miles (former crown land) part of the assets envisaged under Section 2 (5) of the July 30th 1993 Act [Restitution of Traditional Leaders Act]," the question reads in Part. The 9,000 square miles is public land given to chiefs in Buganda by colonialists.
|
The government has however consistently said the public land that the kingdom is demanding is only 5,949sq miles and not 9,000sq miles, including the lost counties of Buyaga and Bugangaizi which were annexed by Buganda from Bunyoro Kingdom.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
