Uganda MPs order physical audit of 2,313 properties left by expelled Asians
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Parliament's COSASE committee has ordered a property-by-property verification of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board's register after MPs questioned missing assets, compensation records and financial discrepancies.
Uganda's Parliament has ordered a detailed physical verification of 2,313 properties left behind by Asians expelled from the country in 1972, after MPs raised concerns about their whereabouts, ownership and management.
The Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), chaired by Muwada Nkunyingi, issued the directive after questioning the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board's failure to account for thousands of properties on its register. The 2,313 assets are the balance of the board's 2,515-property register after excluding 202 properties earmarked for independent investigation over reported compensation arrangements involving the British High Commission (115) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (87).
Mr Nkunyingi appointed a team of lawmakers, including Elgon North MP Gerald Nangoli and Budadiri East MP Julius Nakiyi, to locate the properties by region and district and verify their status. The committee wants to establish the exact physical locations of the assets, identify current occupants and determine why the board directly manages and earns from only a handful of them.
The board's Executive Secretary, Mr George William Bizibu Semakula, told MPs that many assets have been occupied for more than four decades, while others have been affected by conflicting legal and administrative decisions. He said the board currently collects less than Shs20 million in rental income from the five properties it actively manages.
MPs also challenged financial inconsistencies in the board's statements. Mr Nakiyi cited goods and services recorded at Shs685 million in the income statement against Shs1.58 billion in the statement of appropriation, a difference of about Shs895 million, and questioned a Shs170 million gap in employee compensation and a Shs16 million discrepancy in payables. He also asked why the board reflected Shs2.5 billion in other receivables while total income statement revenue was about Shs1.8 billion.
The committee resolved to engage the British High Commission and UNHCR for original compensation records and to sample repossession certificates issued by the Ministry of Finance to rule out forgeries. It adjourned proceedings to allow MPs to carry out the field verification.