by Charles Menya
The controversy surrounding the takeover of Dr. Apollo Kaggwa’s land takes a new twist after information emerged on social media channels indicating how the State Minister for Sam Lands Mayanja is embroiled in a fresh cash-sharing scuffle with those that assisted him to destroy and forcefully cause damage to Dr. Kaggwa’s properties.
It was alleged that Minister Mayanja had pocketed 500 million as an initial deposit on the land he chose to give for purported illegal occupation and was pushing for the total demolition of remaining properties on the controversial land so that he could be paid his balance of one billion (1) shillings.
The team that Mayanja worked with, including the area MP Medard Ssegona, RDC Mbabazi, brokers, and 11 other purported squatters, wanted a 50% share of the proceeds from the land, but Mayanja was offering the whole team 10%, which they have refused to take and threatened to cause mayhem if he doesn’t yield to their demands.
Minister Mayanja is reported to have retorted that he has the final say about the money offer, saying “he did the biggest part of the project and risked his good name to have it sail through.”
When this got into the ears of the brokers and their teams, they hit back at the minister, saying they brought the deal and thus deserved their cut without any further explanation.
This has left Mayanja perplexed and pondering the next move as Attan secures an injunction against Dr. Kaggwa from repossessing his property, as he also strives to give the buyers vacant possession before they make the final cash commitment as agreed.
Sensing the danger that would arise from this botched deal, the legislators, DPC, and RDC have chosen to push the minister into accepting the 50% proposal so that the deal is closed as soon as possible before it causes them problems.
The deal has further gone sour after buyers insisted on having final title copies of the land as earlier promised by the minister and his team in the initial days of this land-grabbing conundrum.
Upon reaching out to his team about the progress of the title processing, the commissioner (names withheld for now) also asked for a cut of close to $400 million to put the final touches on the fabricated title purporting the brokers to be the rightful owners of the land.
Questions have been put to the minister about the authenticity of personas purporting to be squatters, including presenting purchasing agreements and other details that are not available to satisfy the rightful occupancy of the land in question.
This has further stirred the team that reported that the land received their promise portion and later learned that huge sums had been involved in this deal. There are fears in Mayanja’s camp and among his accomplices, including Mirundi Junior, his media handler, that fresh investigations may be initiated in this land-grabbing deal of the century.
The brokers have also threatened to storm the Minister’s office to seek redress from the superior minister, Judith Nabakooba, accusing her assistant and a learned lawyer of bias and greed for personal enrichment.
Hon Judith Nabakooba addressing the media in Kampala
The latest info indicates that Mayanja has spit venom at the brokers and their teams, saying that the processing of titles was not part of the negotiation and adding that the buyers should foot the bill to secure the titles and stop bothering him as this would put his Job and reputation in danger despite the buyers sticking to their positions.
He has further introduced his office team as beneficiaries of the deal, denying the majority of the broker team a chance of getting a penny from the land-grabbing deal.
Impeccable sources also intimate that the controversial opposition legislator has sought a mediation meeting with minister Sam Mayanja about the cut sharing before it gets out of hand, but Mayanja refuses to meet him, pointing to a new attempt to consider mobilizing television journalists to recapture the positions as earlier articulated to arrive at a genuine mutual position.
Owing to the background of the legislator, sources noted that this may further tear the deal down as he may choose to aid the one that makes the biggest offer.
There have been several attempts to get to the minister to clarify these degrading relations between him and the buyers and their teams, but he no longer picks up his known mobile phone number, as this may be attributed to the changing stances by the minister and the brokers and the time lags that are likely to jeopardize this whole affair.
There is already a lot of panic from the Minister’s camp, which has forced him to run for a media conference as he tries to cleanse the dirty linen of his actions. The matter is also being forwarded to the office of the Fountain of Honor, asking him to take action about the errant conduct and abuse of office by his appointee, Dr. Sam Mayanja.
After failing to amicably solve this land question, Mayanja has chosen to run to other corners to stand in the way of justice and make attempts to save his job at the last minute for fear of jeopardizing his chances of retaining the ministerial appointment that is threatened by a looming reshuffle.