The Minister of State for Investment and Privatisation, Aminah Mukalazi, on Friday, September 18, announced that the government would resettle families who own land and property around the Dei BioPharma Ltd medicines and vaccines campus in Matugga, Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District.
Mukalazi, who said she was acting on the orders of President Museveni, met the affected families at the Dei BioPharma campus after holding a closed-door meeting with the pharmaceutical company's management, led by its proprietor, Dr Matthias Magoola.
The meeting was also attended by the Resident District Commissioner, Charles Lwanga, the area security team and local leaders led by Gombe Division Mayor Hajjat Mbabazi.
The minister said the government would compensate residents who own land and property around the Dei BioPharma drug manufacturing plant in Kigoogwa, Matugga, to facilitate the facility's expansion.
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She said President Museveni had directed leaders in Nansana Municipality and Gombe Division to halt further construction within a specified radius of the facility.
According to Mukalazi, the President has also directed relevant government agencies to begin relocating people from the area because it has already been gazetted as an industrial park.
The minister addressed residents from the affected villages of Kigoogwa A and B, Kiryammuli, Wabitembe and Kiryowa, urging them to support the project.
She said the government, which holds a significant shareholding and interest in Dei BioPharma Ltd, had a responsibility to protect the public, arguing that manufacturing activities of this nature do not allow human settlement in the immediate neighbourhood.
Dr Magoola said the pharmaceutical firm could face challenges in obtaining international certification if residents living around the manufacturing campus were not relocated.
"The law requires that a manufacturing entity of this nature should not have neighbours close. They require us to be surrounded by security and trees," he said.
Once completed, Dei BioPharma plans to undertake contract manufacturing for global pharmaceutical companies. However, the facility must first obtain approvals from regulators, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Magoola said existing homes within the industrial park could hinder the company's efforts to obtain the required international certifications.
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Mukalazi said government valuers would assess claims from both mailo landowners and bibanja holders and cautioned residents against dealing with middlemen. Technical officers have also been directed to stop further land transfers in the affected area.
"The Government is coming in peace. We shall work with Dei BioPharma and other ministries to pay all genuine owners," she said.
Dei BioPharma currently occupies 250 acres, where it is developing a large-scale manufacturing facility expected to house about 30 different factories. The company is seeking additional land to facilitate its expansion and meet requirements for international certification, which could be affected by human activity around the plant.
Founded in 2014 by scientist and innovator Dr Magoola, Dei BioPharma has filed more than 100 patent applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), covering treatments and technologies related to cancer, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, sickle cell disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
More than 70 of the applications have advanced and been published by the USPTO, including work involving foot-and-mouth disease, guided-RNA cancer therapy, mRNA platforms and biosimilars.
The US FDA has accepted development plans for some of the company's products.
The National Drug Authority has licensed the Matugga plant, which currently produces about nine generic medicines across six operational manufacturing lines.
