Uganda People News: MPs grill Kajara over former railway workers

Ultimate Media

Members of Parliament on the committee of commissions, statutory authorities and state enterprises have grilled the state minister of finance in charge of privatization Aston Kajara over the compensation of former railway workers living at Nsambya.

Kajara had told the committee that the decision to sell the land to private investors was made by the cabinet a long time ago.

But MPs were concerned why these people have not been compensated yet they had lived on this land for over 30 years and made developments on it.

The chairperson of the committee Patrick Amuriat says the minister should produce evidence before the end of tomorrow to prove that he acted on the cabinet decision.

The MPs are investigating the matter, following the petition to the committee by the former Uganda Railways workers protesting the action by the Uganda Railways to sell the land to private developers when they the tenants had capacity to buy this land and develop it.

The former workers also demanded for compensation from the government for displacement on the land they had stayed on for long.

But the government said the former workers were occupying these houses given to them as staff houses not as renting tenants and therefore cannot be compensation.