LIRA
Uganda Technical College- Lira has reached a historic agreement with Church of Uganda, ending a four-year-old land dispute at the college.
The unsettled land claims came to an end on Wednesday after UTC-Lira Governing Council surrendered the land under contention to the church-founded Ireda Primary School.
In 2009, the college’s Governing Council obtained a land title under instrument number 418868 Plot 2-4 Agwata Road and M27 at UTC- Lira as free hold register volume 1079 Folio 18. The land measures an area of 36.2 hectares in Lira Municipality.
However, according to the ministry of Education and Sports, Ireda Primary (a neighboring school), claimed ownership of part of the land on the title equivalent to almost an acre.
While acting on behalf of permanent secretary (PC), ministry of Education and Sports, Kakula –Khirome S wrote to PC, ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development requesting Lands ministry to intervene in the matter.
“The ministry (Education and Sports) requests for a verification of the land title for Uganda Technical College – Lira to aid the settlement of the conflict between the two schools,” Kakula said in a letter dated June 18, 2016.
In his reply, Haruna Golooba from Lands ministry informed Kakula that the UTC- Lira Governing Council is the rightful registered proprietor of the contentious area.
“The Governing Council, Uganda Technical College – Lira of P.O Box 4, Lira registered under instrument number 418868 of October 2, 2009 at 3.17pm,” Haruna responded in a letter dated July 26, 2016.
“Please take further notice that the user to this land is restricted to the technical training school,” he clarified.
Consequently, On August 8, 2016, Ms Jane Nantale from Education and Sports ministry then directed that a survey be carried out to open boundaries of the college land to establish the actual area per the title.
Following the directive, the acting Chief Administrative Officer of Lira, Denis Otim Otto then on Wednesday provided a surveyor to help undertake the exercise.
After the exercise that lasted about three hours, the college, in the spirit peace and harmony, surrendered the land under contention to Ireda Primary School.
“We discovered the Church of Uganda had acquired a title for the land within our title in 2014, so today (Wednesday) the college’s Governing Council decided to offer that portion of land to Ireda Primary School. However, the Church of Uganda shall facilitate the process of processing a new land title to include the land we have given them,” the college’s spokesperson, Mr Nadyata Abass, told this Reporter on Wednesday.
