City businessman Amos Nzeyi was interrogated by the land prob commission over his ‘dubious’ transaction in the sale of land to National Social Security Fund.
The probe unearthed evidence that suggests the deal could have been an empty transaction since the purported land titles given to NSSF turned out to be fake.
However, Mr Nzeyi denied any wrong doing in the Temangalo land scandal which he sold to the fund in 2008 at the exorbitant Shs11 billion shillings.
Last month Asian Family led by Nazim Moosa filed complaint before the Land Commission claiming to be holders of the original title of the land comprised of Block 296 plot 20 in Busiro, on which it operated a Tea Estate -Temangalo Tea estate – before the expulsion of Indians by former President Idi Amin in 1972.
The family testified that they acquired 79 year lease on the disputed land in 1924, from the family of a one Daniel Mugwanya Kato contending that the land was sold without noticing them yet they had ownership about the disputed land.
Nazim said upon return in 1993, they applied for repossession of their land from the Departed Asians Custodian Property Board and they were told that government had no claim over their land since it was never declared upon expulsion.
Appearing before commission, Mr Nzeyi said no one approached him for the more than 10 years he spent on the land in question. Nzeyi said he acquired the land in question from the family of Daniel Mugwanya that sold it to him in pieces due to financial constraints.
The commission however, retrieved documents that indicted that the case about that land October 26, 1994 where court adjourned it to be settles out of court. Since then Nzeyi didn’t act as court directed them. Nzeyi said he has no clue about allegations.
He revealed that he owns multiple land titles on the land in question. He owns land tiles on Plot 12 63 hectares at Temangalo registered in 1992, Plot 16 block 296 8.78 hectares 1991, Block 296, plot 21, 1992, Block 277 plot 191 and other titles.
The inquiry established that despite owning mass titles at Temangalo, Nzeyi owns other pieces of land Plot 613 Kigoma a distant place from the land in question. Commission revealed that Nazim said they have always tried to reach Nzeyi and they have always failed.
“I got some media clips when he was in the commission of inquiry, he said am a big person who can’t be taken to court, unapproachable, a big size west 34,chest 38, am not big , I had 70 kilograms for the last 30 years, such statements annoyed me,” said Nzeyi.
He said the transfer of land to NSSF was done by Joseph Byamugisha and Gilbert Nuwagaba on behalf on his behalf.
He acknowledged that the complaints lodged a case in 2016 and went into arbitration. He said the mediation on his behalf was handled by Fred Muwema and of one his unrevealed son.
When he appeared before the land probe in July, the Managing Director of NSSF Richard Byarugaba said he no clue of the whereabouts of the documents indicating the transfer of land titles from Nzeyi’s names to the fund.