Members of Parliament sitting on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Committee on State Agencies and Statutory Enterprises (COSASE) are currently doing oversight on Uganda Property Holdings Limited (UPHL) in Mombasa to interrogate the Auditor General’s observations for 2024/25 FY.
The Committee, led by COSASE Chairperson, Hon. Nkunyingi Muwada, inspected the 24 properties owned by UPHL in Mombasa and had engagements with management led by the Managing Director(MD), Mr Mugume Wilbert.
Uganda Property Holdings Limited currently manages 24 Government of Uganda-owned properties.
Some members were surprised and excited at the existence of these properties and credited management of UPHL, led by Mr Mugume Wilbert, for safe guarding the all properties and promised to push for capitalisation of the Company to enable it to redevelop some of the properties which are underdeveloped for higher return on investment and revenue for the benefit of the Company and Country at large.
Mr Mugume, who guided the MPs on the tour of the properties, assured them that all the properties under their custody and ownership are titled and unencumbered.
The MD, however, noted that some of the properties situated in very prime locations in Mombasa were underdeveloped and needed to be redeveloped if the Company/country was to earn higher revenue from the same.
He noted that the government company, which is self-sustaining, needs to be capitalised for the very first time since inception in order to redevelop the underdeveloped properties.
Some of the MPs on the tour observed that UPHL was doing a credible job amidst the challenges of underfunding. They commended management for keeping the properties safe and committed to advancing the issue of capitalisation of the Company aimed at the redevelopment of the underdeveloped properties to Parliament for appropriate action.
Writing on the X Platform, Hon Nkunyingi Muwada said that the inspection is timely and credited UPL for a job well done.
“As PAC-COSASE, we inspected several additional properties of UGANDA PROPERTY HOLDINGS (UPHL) in Mombasa, including the commercial building in Mombasa City and the plot leased to the Uganda Foreign Ministry with ongoing Construction works. We interfaced with UPHL over observations in the 2024/25 Auditor General’s Report. We learnt that some less developed land, including plots in Bugolobi, Uganda, were leased or subleased by UPHL under presidential directives, and UPHL could not charge a premium though retained reversionary interests. We interrogated several aspects, including delays in recognition of Foreign Tax Credits by URA, occasioning prolonged liability on UPHL,” he said.
Hon Nakiyi Julius noted that UPL oversees investments worth billions. “I am currently in Mombasa as part of the delegation of the @Parliament_Ug Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to ascertain the existence of assets owned by Ugandans through the Uganda Property Holdings Ltd. We have noted that Uganda owns significant investment properties in Mombasa worth billions of shillings,” he also wrote on social networking platform X.
Hon Nyakato Asinansi also wrote on X that the delegation aims at ascertaining the existence of assets owned by Uganda Property Holdings Ltd and noted that Uganda owns many investment properties in Mombasa worth billions.
The MPs observed that, much as the properties in Mombasa were fetching good revenue/rent, redevelopment of the underdeveloped properties would enable the Company to earn more revenue and, in the long run, it would enable the Company to contribute higher dividends to the consolidated fund on top of acquiring/developing more properties.
