Project Affected People (PAPs) in Jinja town are demanding their property titles from the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) for the delay in compensation.

The PAPs’ concerns are contained in a letter to Unra CEO Allen Kagina signed by 17 members on the 127 kilometer long Amber Court-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bugungu road.

The road that has featured in successive parliamentary budgets from 2001 to 2021, and in the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifestos of 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021, connects Jinja town/district with Kamuli district , through Mbulamuti village and Sub-county on the banks of River Nile to Bukungu in Buyende District.

The PAPs in the highway project were prohibited from making any modifications or developments to their land as such changes would not attract compensation.

“We have been patient and peaceful, but we need to recover our titles to be able to access loans from financial institutions to begin the redevelopment of our land,” the October 25 letter signed by Dr. Sam Olam on behalf of the PAPs reads in part. .

Dr Olam, who signed the compensation on behalf of the PAPs, says the payment is overdue and the time Unra had promised them the money has passed.

“We were assessed for compensation on October 13, 2021 and subsequently on March 30, 2023, we were verified and approved after revealing how much a person will receive based on the property,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we have gone a year and a half without payment,” Dr. Olam said on Wednesday, noting that PAPs need timelines to determine when compensation will be made if the government is still interested in their land.

Mrs Rosemary Afoyochan, a PAP residing in Kimaka, said she had booked the purchase of land elsewhere while waiting for the money, but recently returned to inquire about the land and its price had tripled due to the city status of Jinja.

Felix Oluba, another PAP who also resides in Kimaka, said he was “excited” when he was told that the money would be paid “as soon as possible last year”, but to his disappointment, there has been no message from the bank about the money.

Oluba, who has been bedridden for the past 14 years, said he wants to use some of that money to pay his medical bills instead of relying on his relatives.

According to Kagina, the project is in the pipeline, financing has been identified and agreements are being finalized to confirm financing.

He also said the contract was signed despite not disclosing the contractor.

“What remains now is to attach money to the contract and the contractor. The land acquisition process is long, it begins at Unra and ends at the Ministry of Works and Transportation. We have all the property titles in our custody and whoever wants to confirm it can come to our office to check it,” said Mrs Kagina.

He added: “If someone wants their (land) title back, we can give it back to them and when the project starts, we will still need it to verify a part of the required land.”

Kamuli district LC5 chairman Maxwell Kuwembula said that because the government has delayed construction of the road for the past 28 years but its budget has always been approved by Parliament, residents are “right” to demand your property.

His Buyende district counterpart Michael Kanaku said 99 per cent of the PAPs involved in the road project do not have any title but are patiently waiting for compensation from the government.