MPs have questioned the manner in which Mukono district officials valued and disposed of its assets, after discovering that several properties were sold without the involvement of a government valuer.
The concerns were raised by the Public Accounts Committee (Local Government), chaired by Mukono Municipality MP Betty Bakireke Nambooze, during an oversight exercise to follow up issues raised in the Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2024/25.
The committee was told that Mukono’s assets, including land, buildings, vehicles and other property, had a total reported value of about Shs26 billion.
However, MPs questioned the figure, saying it appeared too low considering the nature and location of some of the district’s properties.
Nambooze particularly questioned the valuation of the district headquarters, which she said had been valued at only Shs302 million.
“How could a main building of the district with two floors be valued at only Shs302 million?” Nambooze asked.
She said the committee had repeatedly encountered cases where local governments undervalued public assets before disposing of them, creating concerns about how the properties were eventually acquired.
“Our biggest challenge whenever we have gone to these districts is that district officials themselves undervalue government assets and later buy them off themselves,” Nambooze said.
She questioned the wide difference between the prices at which government acquires property from private individuals and the prices at which the same government property is sometimes disposed of.
“When government is buying, for example, land from an individual in Mukono, one acre can cost Shs100 million. But when government is selling, it can cost only Shs25 million or less. What is the trick behind this?” she asked.
The committee also found that some district assets had been disposed of at what MPs described as unusually low prices.
These included a pickup truck that was reportedly sold for Shs1.5 million and a Massey Ferguson tractor that was sold for Shs1 million.
The committee was also told that a bulldozer had been disposed of without a value being attached to it.
MPs questioned how such assets could have been disposed of without the involvement of a government valuer, who would be expected to establish their market or disposal value.
The district’s Chief Administrative Officer, Henry Damba, initially struggled to provide satisfactory explanations to the committee.
At some point, MPs asked him several questions which he did not immediately answer, leaving him silent and appearing uncertain about some of the information being sought.
This prompted Nambooze to direct Damba to take the oath before continuing with his responses, saying this would help ensure that the information given to the committee was clear and properly coordinated.
The committee also questioned the district officials about the ownership of the land on which some of its facilities stand.
When asked who the district’s landlord was, Damba was initially reluctant to answer.
He later told the MPs that the Buganda Kingdom was the landlord.
The committee was further informed that several members of the public had taken up plots of land surrounding the district headquarters after the lease held by the district expired.
The MPs raised concern that the expiry of the lease had exposed government property to possible encroachment and disputes, particularly as members of the public continued occupying or claiming portions of land around the district premises.
The committee has given Mukono more than a week to correct the identified mistakes and submit a comprehensive report explaining the valuation and disposal of its assets.
The district officials will also be expected to provide the committee with information supporting the values attached to the properties and explain the circumstances under which the assets were disposed of without the involvement of a government valuer.
