Uganda: Government returns properties to Kingdom of Buganda
President Yoweri Musuveni today symbolically handed over a document listing some properties confiscated by the state from the Kingdom of Buganda in 1966 to deputy Katikkiro Emmanuel Sendaula to mark the restitution of their ownership.
Reports indicate that the items being returned includes 213 land titles to the kingdom’s official estates, markets and properties of chiefs as well as Shs 20 billion.
According to New Vision, several representatives of the Buganda kingdom and Ugandan officials were present to witness the landmark event at the State House, Entebbe.
In August 2013, the Ugandan government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the kingdom to return several properties seized by the Milton Obote administration in 1966 after he suspended the constitution and declared the kingdom to be part of the state.
Since the restoration of the kingdom in 1993, reports indicate that there have been ongoing efforts to reclaim control of the properties and thereby complete the revival of the Buganda administration.
Pundits have explained that the loss of the properties has affected the kingdom’s ability to generate funds for developmental projects.
The Buganda people, who live along the shores of Lake Victoria, are estimated to number about 7.5 million. Commentators have described the state as a “tightly centralised bureaucratic kingdom.”
Photo/Prime Radio: President Yoweri Musuveni shakes hands with His Majesty Kabaka Donald Mutebi II at the 20th anniversary of his coronation last year.