As work on the renovation of the Kampala-Malaba metre gauge railway project begins, at least 20,000 project-affected persons (PAPs) are anticipated to receive compensation.
In their Tuesday appearance before the national economy committee of Parliament, representatives of the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) stated that one of the terms of the about 1.1 trillion shilling financing for the project is PAP compensation.
The African Development Bank, which gave the $306 million (about 1.1 trillion shillings) loan, according to URC Chief Commercial Officer Stephen Wakasenza, insists that such initiatives recompense the communities around the project by avoiding temptations to leave them worse than they found them.
“The reserve where this metre-gauge railroad will traverse is designated. According to the railroad’s activities and history, this organization (URC), which had previously been privatized, had some ineffective land protection enforcement that wasn’t being followed, and the agreement was revoked in 2018,” Bulega informed the lawmakers.
Allan Atugonza, an MP for Buliisa, questioned if the reimbursement covered lost land or enterprise.
Bulega responded by claiming that URC is addressing resettlement (livelihoods) rather than compensating for land.
“They wrote to the President saying they need compensation and responded how the complaining occupants should have paid the President (government) since they had been using government land illegally,” Bulega said. Later, he revealed that the President had agreed that they be relocated with what he called “aka samosas.”
In order to prevent the compensation procedure from being misused, Atugonza then asked the list of the 20,000 PAPs.
The overall compensation amount, according to Wakasenza, is $44 million (sh162 billion), however the bank only allotted the project only 12.26 of those units, or $16.8 million (sh61 billion). It is anticipated that the Ugandan government will contribute the remaining amount.
Fred Byamukama, a state minister for transportation who testified before the committee, claimed that the government had not given a commitment on the shillings 61 billion.
The astounding balance that had not yet been funded by the government, according to committee chairperson John Bosco Ikojo (Bukedea County), was $27.2m (sh100b).
Atugonza asserts that this is not a trivial “aka samosas” that will ultimately be covered by tax dollars.
You mentioned Ndeeba, and this ‘ka samosas’ must be compensation for land because it’s a substantial sum of money. When you consider the size of the loan we’re seeking for, it’s a sizable sum of money by percentage, Atugonza added.
