The Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, State Authorities & State Enterprises (COSASE) is set to kick off investigations into the Centenary Park saga that has been on for years.
Business Focus has learnt that investigations are to fulfill a request by the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Justice Irene Mulyagonja, asking Parliament to investigate the matter.
The investigations are set to kickoff on Tuesday (tomorrow) and the Committee is expected to report back to Parliament in 10 days.
According to Mulyagonja, the controversy surrounding Centenary Park involving Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Nalongo Estates Limited has resulted into three public projects stalling.
In her letter to Parliament, the IGG says her office doesn’t have the mandate to investigate the matter owing to the fact that Nalongo Estates Limited is a private company.
It is worth noting that Nalongo Estates Limited is run by Sarah Kizito, wife to former boxer and Kampala politician, Godfrey Nyakana. The company is embroiled in a battle with KCCA over failure by the latter to renew lease for the former to manage Centenary Park.
KCCA claims that the lease and management executed with the company in question expired in May 2016, and the company owners should have vacated the premises by December 31st 2016.
However, Sarah Kizito has continued with business as usual regardless of the Court orders demanding that she hands over the property to KCCA.
On May16 2006, the then KCC and Nalongo Estates Limited executed a management agreement to keep the park as a green open/public space, but the latter allegedly breached the contract by constructing temporary structures.
Consequently, KCCA terminated the contract on June 26th 2012, but Nalongo Estates dragged the Authority to Arbitration Tribunal in September 2013. It won the case and was awarded Shs732.5m in damages.
The two entities are still at loggerheads, but three projects undertaken by National Water & Sewerage Corporation, Umeme and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) have been affected. It remains to be seen whether Parliament investigations will settle this long standing battle between the city Authority and tycoon Sarah Kizito.
