Minister for Lands, Betty Amongi has failed to explain why unscrupulous individuals including officials in her Ministry have defrauded government of billions of Shillings allocated to the Uganda Land Fund with no action taken to alter this.
Amongi was for the second day facing the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into land matters on Tuesday to answer to queries relating to the mismanagement of funds meant for the Land Fund.
Members of the Commission probed the Minister to explain why there is a pattern of third parties being paid sums as much as four times to what the rightful owners receive as peanuts. In several transactions, people have acquired underserving payments for properties belonging to dead people or using improper titles.
One of such payment was Shs 3.7 billion which was paid to a one Pastor Daniel Walugembe who claimed to have powers of attorney for land belonging to Nansikombi (deceased) without the knowledge of the deceased’s relatives.
The Commissioners questioned why such huge payments, sometimes to officials within the Lands Ministry and government were given priority while there were cases of ordinary Ugandans that were ignored. A case in point is an individual who sold his land measuring 3,300 acres to government 15 years ago but to date his Shs 975 million remains unpaid.
Amongi was also asked why Commissioners and registrars in the Ministry and ULC were demanding kickbacks as high as 60% of the amount claimed by property owners for them to expedite the process of payment.
“These revelations of 60% cuts are new to me. I have always been told that these payments are made directly to the beneficiaries by EFT,” Amongi responded.
Micromanaging the Ministry
The Minister has also been faulted for overstepping her role and micromanaging the day-to-day affairs in the Uganda Lands Commission, the body responsible for acquiring land on behalf of government.
“A lot of payments are authorized directly by yourself. You generate lists of which people should be paid and how much. This had created tensions at ULC since this should be the work of the Secretary,” the Lead Counsel to the Commission, Ebert Byenkya said to the Minister.
Similarly, the Chairperson to the Commission, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire said that the issue of micromanagement reflected in Amongi’s misinterpretation of the mandate of ULC.
However, Amongi blamed this on the inefficiency of some of the officials at Uganda Land Commission. She said that at many occasions she is under pressure to enforce directives from the Cabinet which explains why she gets involved.
But in some instances, the Commission divulged decisions the Minister had taken in the absence of such directives from Cabinet or even approval.
Commissioners further wondered why it was the Ministers of Land involved in issues as minor as approving the agenda for ULC meetings when this was the work of the Secretary.
“The Commission (ULC) from the position you have put, it will already be compromised because it can’t do its oversight role. It’s a serious matter and creating many centres of confusion,” Commissioner Fred Ruhindi said.
Failure to penalize errant officers
Commissioners including Joyce Gunze Habaasa pointed out that in the course of their work, they have come across specific officials at both Ministry and ULC responsible for issuing overlapping titles but that no action was being taken against them.
“The problem is – there seems to be a thinking that nothing should be done to reprimand errant officers, that everybody should continue stealing until this Commission has made its final recommendations,” Bamugemereire said.
She said that despite the Commission finding some of the officials culpable of incompetence and fraud, the Ministry of Land has not picked interest in following up these cases especially given that the Commission has limited powers.
But in her defense, the Minister cited three officials including former Commissioner for Land Registration, Sarah Kulata and two other Registrars in Wakiso who have since been interdicted.
Amongi explained that part of the challenge was the failure to find substantial evidence required to implicate such officials.