The leadership of Masaka district local government has chosen to vend their current headquarters to prevent the newly created city council from occupying it as its administrative offices.
Masaka District Chairperson Andrew Lukyamuzi Batemyetto says that the headquarters located at Kitabiro in Masaka city will be sold to enable the district secure the money required to construct new headquarters.
In November last year, the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka issued a circular to leaders of mother districts that had their headquarters swallowed within the boundaries of the newly created cities to find alternative sites where they can construct new administration offices.
The circular was addressed to the districts of Arua, Gulu, Masaka, Jinja, Mbale, Mbarara and Fort Portal whose traditional municipalities were elevated to city status in March 2020.
The circular guided that if the mother districts have their headquarters and other immovable assets within the jurisdiction of the city, they should be handed over to the newly created urban local council to support their growth.
But Batemyetto says that they will not conform to the guidance, describing it as undue suppression to the traditional district that earned and guarded their properties for decades.
He argues that they cannot relinquish any of their properties to the city without any monetary gain, saying that the district also is also in need of money to construct new headquarters at their new site in Buwunga sub county.
Batemyetto says that to defuse the current controversy between the district and city leadership, the district has considered selling off these assets starting with the current district headquarters seating on 3.8- acres piece of land, which he says is the most targeted.
Last month, Batemyetto blocked the planned land survey process at the current district headquarters, when he furiously chased away the consultants who had been hired by the Masaka City Council.
He says that as they search for the potential buyers of the headquarters, they will resist any attempt by the city to forcefully takeover the district assets.
But Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja, has scoffed at the district leadership describing their decision as unreasonable. She says that the City council will still hold onto the guidance of the Attorney General regarding the sharing of the properties between the two local governments, unless if the circular is withdrawn.
According to her, they don’t intend to throw out the district from the headquarters, saying they only intend to commence plans of developing the site as the current occupants also prepare to shift after they construct the new offices.
Geoffrey Bemanyisa, the Masaka City Clerk says he is going to engage the technical person at the district to find a solution to the current standoff which he says is unnecessary.
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