New details emerge in  Asians properties saga as documents indicate Uganda paid Indian gov’t

New details have emerged that some Indians could be claiming properties under the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) even though the Indian government could have given them the money that was paid the Ugandan government as compensation.

In June 1997, the then Minister of Justice/Attorney General Bart M. Katureebe wrote to the then Minister of State for Finance the late Basoga Nsadhu explaining that the government of Uganda under the international law sent money to the Indian government to compensate Indians who lost their properties after being expelled by president Idi Amin.

“The Indian government had a duty to pass on the compensation to its nationals since it not only negotiated on their behalf but received on their behalf,” Katureebe at the time explained to Nsadhu who had sought legal opinion on Indian properties under the DAPCB.

He added that all those Indians whose compensation was paid to the Indian government had no further claim in Uganda and that those who received certificates of repossession when they had been compensated should have the certificates canceled as they would be getting double benefit.

“The Indians who claim that they did not get paid by their government when in fact they were listed for payment should be advised to contact their government,” he said then.

Katureebe at the time also argued that those who fraudulently repossessed the properties when they had been compensated stood to be prosecuted. “Those who are found to have fraudulently reclaimed for which they had already been compensated, should not only lose the property but should be prosecuted subject to Direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions on the matter,” he said.

This website has published a story where on March 31, 1992 a one N.K Radia, purporting to act on Parkview Limited and Bharat Properties Limited applied for the repossession plot No.98-104, Nakivubo Road in Kampala and his wish was granted in April 1992 by the then Finance Minister the late Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi who did so under the Expropriated Properties Act.

However it is not clear whether the shareholders of Parkview Limited and Bharat Properties Limited who owned that property before they were expelled were later on compensated by the Indian government or not before reclaiming possession of the same.

The minister’s issuance of the certificate was based on the communication from the then DAPCB Executive Secretary on April 16, 1992, stating that the DAPCB Task Force had on April 11, 1992 cleared the repossession, having gone through the laid-down procedure on repossession of such properties.

According to the related law, DAPCB or the Ministry of Finance has no powers  for example to withdraw the repossession certificate given to Parkview Limited and Bharat Properties Limited and probably many more others.