The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has ordered State House to pay outstanding rent arrears of Shs 1.4 billion to the National Housing and Construction Corporation (NHCC) and the owner of Okello House in Nakasero, within two weeks.
According to a PAC report, State House owed rent arrears of Shs l, 272,363,507 to tycoon Alex Okello, the owner of Okello House in the leafy Nakasero suburb, and Shs 201, 100,000 to NHCC which has not yet been cleared since 2013.
‘The tenancy agreement could not be renewed since the premise was a subject of mortgage dispute between the lender (Standard Chartered Bank and the Borrower (Landlord),” the accounting officer of State House noted then.
However according to PAC the two Parties have since then resolved their disputes and tenancy agreements were signed against which payments have since been made.
The PAC report by the Auditor General on entities with unqualified opinion for the financial year ending 2014/15 that was recently released in December 2017 shows that National Housing and Construction Corporation owns properties on Plot 1 Kyagwe Road-Nakasero currently occupied by State House.
‘According to the Chief Government Valuer’s report, the said piece of land is valued at Shs 8.4bn, however State House has expressed unwillingness to pay and intends to compulsorily acquire the property in contravention of the provisions of the Land Act and the Constitution,’ the report indicates.
However, the Committee recommended strict adherence to the lawful procedure for acquisition of land as enshrined in the Constitution and the Land Acquisition Act, Cap 226.
