This investigative website can exclusively report that Catholic Church, city businessman Tom Kitandwe and a section of Owino market traders are in a sharp fight over controversial businessman Hamis Kiggundu’s cash.
Highly placed sources close to the businessman have revealed to Ono Bwino that Kampala Catholic Diocese leadership which supervises St Balikuddembe Catholic Church which is close to Owino market approached the businessman and advised him not to entertain the deal of negotiating with traders who are operating in church buildings as he did to the 56 who were operating in the buildings, he demolished a few weeks back.
Sources said that Kiggundu has been insisting that the said buildings are part of the Nakivubo drainage channel land title which President Museveni gave him to develop by building shops on top of it.
Dr Paul Ssemogerere, the Archbishop of Kampala Diocese wrote a protest letter to Kiggundu asking him to back-off the buildings because they are owned by the Catholic church.
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The businessman welcomed the church for negotiations and they have been privately discussing the issue.
Dr Ssemogerere’s protest letter resulted from Kiggundu’s decision to block the gate that Catholics use to enter the church to pray.
Kampala ministers Hajjat Minsa Kabanda and Christopher Kabuye Kyofatogabye were instrumental in facilitating the negotiations and the gate was opened.
The negotiations according to sources resumed after Catholic Church got scared that their building may also be demolished like the businessman did to their neighbours who he demolished two weeks back because he already claimed that their land title is part of the drainage channel land title.
As the church is negotiating for compensation, traders operating in the said buildings also want the businessman to first sort them out as he did to their comrades who were operating in the already demolished buildings.
They also want to be compensated with Shs3m each as he did to others but the problem is the businessman compensated the traders with that money without considering the landlords who dragged him to Court protesting the demolition of their building without their consent.
Both the traders and the Church each want to be the first to be compensated and the businessman is still consulting on how to deal with the puzzle.
City businessman Kitandwe the owner of City Mall which is close to Kiggundu’s Nakivubo Hams Shopping Mall has also approached the big man to purchase his building so that he vacates the plot which separates his building from his empire.
It is alleged that Kitandwe is desperate according to sources after realising that he has no capacity to stop the powerful Kiggundu from taking over his vacant plot which he claims is part of the drainage channel land title.
If Kiggundu takes the vacant plot, it will make Kitandwe’s building redundant because tenants will be closed behind the open space and will not be seen by customers.
So, their only option will be to shift to Kiggundu’s shops which he is building on top of the drainage channel.
Sources close to the negotiations assured this reporter that very soon, the deal will be sealed and the building and vacant plot will be added on Kiggundu’s multibillion empire.
Sources said that the businessman is very happy because thousands of shops he first built on top of the drainage channel are already occupied and he has started the process of extending the building to the stretch that passes through Uganda police fire department headquarters moving towards Luzira in Nakawa Division.
The drainage channel project according to sources close to Kiggundu is giving him a financial relief from the Diamond Trust Bank financial troubles where he spent more than Shs300bn to save his empire which was under threat of being auctioned.
Because of money and power, vendors who were protesting against the project are currently on them their knee pleading to the businessman to give them incentives to operate on his new buildings and ono Bwino has been told that he has given them tough conditions.
According to sources, he gave them a grace period of six months without paying rent, but they have to change the products they are selling because he only allows those dealing in clothing and shoes to operate on his buildings, others selling other products like tea bags, salt, herbal medicine are not welcomed.
Outgoing Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago warned that Kiggundu is going to take all public land down town without paying for it. He pleaded with Ugandans to open their eyes to save the country’s assets.
