Cabinet chaired by President Museveni has agreed to pay Shs80 billion to city businessman Hassan Basajjabala over his interests in the abattior.
Eagle Online has learnt that the move by cabinet was endorsed after report of parliament recommendation the payment.
According to cabinet sources, Mr Basajjabala could wait a bit longer as it has been established that President Yoweri Museveni informed his cabinet and Ministry of Finance officials to halt the payment as they verify the whether the treasury has enough money before they consider paying Basajjabala.
“You Muhakanizi (Kieth) do you have enough money before you release this money to this rich man? wait because we need to be certain that other needs of government are catered for. We don’t want to have shortfalls” Mr. Museveni is quoted to have told the meeting before he asked his handlers to get him Mr Basajjabala on phone.
Bassajjabala acquired city abattior from the then Kampala Capital City council after he emerged as the best bidder to manage the market and subsequently sold it to him.
Last year, MPs on the Presidential Affairs Committee recommended that government through KCCA should compensate Mr Basajjabalaba Shs85 billion for failure to assure him of vacant possession of the facility.
The first instalment of the compensation will be paid to Mr Basajjabalaba in the 2019/2020 financial year budget.
How management row started
On March 1, 2000, Kampala City Council (KCC), the predecessor of KCCA, gave a one-year contract to Basajjabalaba Hides and Skins Company Ltd (BHS) owned by Basajjabalaba to manage the abattoir.
According to the contract, Mr Basajjabalaba was supposed to be remitting a monthly fee of only Shs20 million to KCC. On June 4, 2001, KCC offered a 49-year lease to BHS at a fee of Shs600 million.
Mr Basajjabalaba was supposed to be remitting a ground rent of Shs2.7 million annually, payable by two equal half yearly instalments in advance on the first day of January, and the first day of July in every year.
Mr Basajjabalaba, documents show, was also supposed to redevelop Kampala’s biggest slaughter house into a modern structure, and manage the entire facility on behalf of KCC.
However, KCC later realised that he had sub-leased the same facility to Travellers Coaches Ltd of Mr Daniel Kwatampora Katarihwa in 2008 without their consent.
Mr Kwantampora allegedly increased fares at the facility, something the butchers protested and asked the city authority to kick him out.
When KCC was rebranded into KCCA in 2011, butchers seized the opportunity and petitioned Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago over the controversial giveaway of the slaughterhouse to Mr Kwantampora.
Mr Lukwago, who had pledged to weed out all manipulative forces from the city’s public working spaces during his campaigns, intervened in the wrangle and halted Mr Kwantampora’ s operations in the facility hence court battles ensued.
Although Mr Basajjabalaba repossessed the facility back from Mr Kwantampora in 2011, traders under their umbrella body of City Abattoir Traders Development Association (Catda) rejected him.
