Jinja five-star hotel groundbreaking postponed as 12-acre park ownership row resurfaces
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A Shs870 billion five-star hotel planned by MMP Park on a former public recreation ground in Jinja City stalled on 30 October when the chief guest, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, failed to appear, reviving questions over how the 12-acre site passed into private hands.
The planned groundbreaking ceremony for a Shs870 billion five-star hotel in Jinja City collapsed into confusion after the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who had been scheduled to preside over the event on 30 October 2026, did not appear. The project, spearheaded by MMP Park, is planned for a 12-acre parcel formerly known as Chairman's Park, near the Source of the Nile and adjacent to the National Agricultural Showground.
Organisers and the developer gave different accounts of the cancellation. Esther Mirembe, the Patriotic League of Uganda coordinator for Jinja City, said military authorities contacted local organisers to cite pressing official matters, communicating that the general could not attend because of urgent state engagements at State House and asking for the ceremony to be postponed until further notice. MMP Park corporate affairs manager Francis Baganzi rejected suggestions that the setback stemmed from political interference or land conflict, attributing the delay to unfinalised logistical preparations, saying the company holds clear rights to the 12 acres and that a revised date would be announced.
The site has a long history of contested transactions. Originally a public recreational ground along Bridge Street, the property was acquired by the former Jinja Municipal Council from the Uganda Land Commission in 2001. The Jinja District Land Board later reallocated it to Black Eagle Investments Limited without municipal approval, and the company obtained a title after paying a Shs80 million premium. An Inspectorate of Government inquiry subsequently found procedural irregularities and recommended that the then Jinja Central Division settle a Shs2.5 billion bank obligation to recover the five-acre public park, but the municipal administration could not raise the funds. Ownership was later acquired by businessman Magan Meghi Patel, proprietor of MMP Industrial Park, through his company Nile Agro Industries, which now intends to build the hotel.
Planning records add a further complication. The National Physical Planning Board granted conditional approval in January 2018 to rezone five acres from green belt to commercial hotel use, requiring that the remaining seven acres stay public open space. Subsequent ministry inspections found that a perimeter wall had been built around the entire 12-acre tract. Black Eagle's chief executive, Osman Noor Ahmed, defended the fencing and maintained that the entity holds a valid title covering the whole plot, while municipal officers denied that any formal agreement exists with Nile Agro over management of the seven-acre public area.
By the time the event was called off, large temporary structures had already been erected on site and were later dismantled by workers. No replacement date has been announced. The case highlights how unresolved public-land titles continue to complicate large hospitality investments in Uganda's secondary cities, where rezoning conditions and competing ownership claims can outlast several council administrations.