Lukwago Carries on Battle against Bat Valley Primary School Land Giveaway; KCCA Council Rescinds Decisions Made by Kampala Divisions
The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Council on Monday unanimously resolved to Veto the resolutions of the Central Urban Division Council, to give away Bat Valley Primary School, one of the few remaining Public Schools in the City.
Citing Article 34 of the KCCA Act, the council asserted its power to rescind or veto decisions made by the urban councils of Kampala divisions.
The KCCA council has decided to stop the process of taking over the school’s land, recognizing the benefits it provides to low-income earners in the city.
In a Report presented to the Council of the Authority by the City Minister for Education, the Hon. Olive Namazzi, that highlighted the historical foundation and ownership of the School, from when it was founded in 1938, by the Shree Sanatan Dharma Mandal (SSDM) Asian Community to the Government of Uganda by an Act of Parliament in 1964 taking it over, later for the School to be illegally repossessed by the SSDM in 1991, under the Asians expropriated Properties whereas it was not a Property in the category to the SSDM being granted a freehold interest against the resolutions of Parliament, the Auditor General forensic Audit report recommendations and the School Management Committee interests.
Following a petition by Erias Lukwago, the then Kampala Central MP and current Lord Mayor, Parliament resolved in 2008 that the school should not be relocated but maintained as a UPE facility. This position was upheld by Parliament again in 2015.
The Lord Mayor described the Central Urban Division resolution as ultra vires, ill-conceived and based on ignorance of the matter.
The Central Urban Division Council resolution, aimed at illegally alienating and relocating the Public School seating on 4.99acres of land in the Central Business District under the disguise of improving the facility to make way for a mixed land use and development.
Parliament, through its Committee of Education and Social Services in 2008, and the select committee of parliament inquiring into the takeover of land formerly belonging to KCCA in 2015, pronounced that Bat Valley Primary School should be maintained as a UPE school and should not be relocated from its current location.
This position was communicated to the Ministry of Education and Sports in a letter dated June 16, 2017.
Bat Valley Primary School, a government-aided primary school, plays a significant role in achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE) in the city by providing basic education to all school-age children. Therefore, preserving its current location is regarded as essential.
Lukwago has been engaged in a prolonged battle with the Shree Shanatal Dhama Mandal Association over the ownership of Bat Valley Primary School since his tenure as a Member of Parliament for Kampala Central Division and now as the Lord Mayor.