Entebbe Deputy Resident District Commissioner (D/RDC) Jacqueline Kakunda and other area security officials have maintained their Friday resolution where they agreed that Spenah Beach boss John Asiimwe should respect Court, Police directives and vacate former Entebbe Mayor Stephen Kabuye’s land by Thursday this week.
Kabuye had rented the said land which has been housing John’s Spenah Beach for five years, which expired but John reportedly refused to leave claiming he had summer-saulted from being a tenant to a landlord!
In the video clip our spy landed on last Friday, John is reportedly heard exchanging with Kabuye’s lawyer, where he confirms that he was no longer a tenant but a landlord.
He goes on to claim that he derives the ownership rights from the NEMA and Municipal Authority clearances he obtained to run ‘his‘ beach on the land.
Meanwhile, during the meeting last Friday, when John was asked to clarify his status, he changed gears and now admitted he was a tenant and not a landlord, but was quick to add that he would not leave until he’s compensated for the investments he put on the land. “I for instance bought sand worth one billion shillings which I used to beautify the beach, they should pay me One Billion,” John claimed.
However, this was challenged by Kabuye’s lawyers who tasked him to prove where he bought the sand he claimed to have transported to the beach yet the lake itself brings the sand to the shores.
However, Deputy RDC Kakunda and the security team resolved that John should leave the premises by Thursday as negotiations continue to ascertain the actual investments on the land, putting it in mind that the landlord also has his claims of unpaid arrears.
Kakunda, who was visiting locust on Monday together with the area security bosses said John had been given ample time to vacate after his 5 year tenure expired.
Entebbe Deputy RDC Kokunda briefing the media about what the security meeting resolved
The brief of this saga is that Kabuye on April 3, 2017, rented beach premises at a rate of USD 2400 per year, for a period of five years, ending in May 2021.
However, along the way, Asiimwe and his company Spenah Entertainment allegedly defaulted on rent for a period of six months, which prompted the owner of the property, Kabuye, to seek repossession of the facility.
By that time, Asiimwe had defaulted rent amounting to USD 37, 200 being outstanding rent for the period running from December 2019 to May 2021, minus the utility bills outstanding as of that date.
Through his lawyers of Sabiiti & Co. Advocates, decided to grant Asiimwe a rent waiver for the months of April and May, thereby reducing the outstanding bill to USD 8,400, being the unpaid rent for the months of January, February and March of 2020 and part of December 2019.
But, as a considerate landlord, Kabuye, however, instead of taking that option, Asiimwe, using a certificate of NEMA’s approval of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, claimed to own the beach!
Kabuye’s lawyers, therefore, wrote a notice of vacation to Asiimwe and Spenah Beach dated November 12th, 2020, notifying him of the expiry of his tenancy, and the request for vacant possession to the landlord, Kabuye.
He didn’t comply with the notice to vacate the property, along the way Kabuye decided to sell the land on Freehold Register Volume WBU 6465 Folio 9, to a neighbouring City businessman, but when he tried to take possession of the property, Asiimwe and his goons blocked him.
So, his lawyers of DROIT Advocates wrote a letter dated September 26th, 2022, to the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), seeking the cancellation of the certificate that the Authority had issued to Spenah Beach to operate the premises.
They also notified NEMA that Asiimwe had earlier claimed that the land under contest belongs to Entebbe Municipal Council which had however refuted the same claims.
The landlord’s lawyers quoted a letter from Entebbe Municipal Council dated September 20th, 2022, signed by the Town Clerk Charles Magumba, refuting Asiimwe’s claims that the land housing Spenah Beach belongs to Entebbe Municipal Council.
After critically observing the evidence of ownership of the land and in consideration of the letter from Entebbe Municipal Council denouncing any claims on the property, NEMA consequently cancelled certificate No. NEMA/EIA/15155 that had been issued to Spenah Beach.
Current situation at Spenah Beach Entebbe
Earlier on, Entebbe Municipal Council had written a letter dated September 19th, 2022 to the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), cancelling and recalling a letter the Municipality had written to NWSC authorizing them to install water at Spenah Beach, a copy of which landlord’s lawyers had shared with NEMA.
When Asiimwe failed to comply with all avenues to vacate the property, landlord’s lawyers decided to seek help and protection from the Uganda police, in a bid to forcefully evict Spenah Beach.
So, on October 5th, 2020, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth Ochola, in a letter dated October 5th, 2022, signed on his behalf by Twaruhukwa Erasmus, directed the Commandant Aviation Police, Entebbe, to forcefully evict Spenah Beach and hand over the property to the landlord.
On Friday, October 7th, 2022, the police, together with Kabuye stormed Spenah Beach to evict Asiimwe and his staff from the property. After seeing that he had been cornered and had no other way out, Asiimwe pleaded with the police to grant him a few days until after the Independence Day celebrations, because he had clients that had booked to spend the weekend at the beach.
Following a lengthy meeting between all parties that was chaired by the D/RDC Jackline Kakunda, gave Asiimwe an ultimatum to vacate the premises by Thursday [this week]but said will make a locus visit to ascertain the situation on the ground before forcing him out of the beach.
In a Monday meeting held inside the beach chaired by D/RDC Kakunda which was attended by top security personnel of Entebbe, Asiimwe and his lawyers, the D/RDC reterated her earlier position that John has no legal basis to continue staying in the premises when he’s not paying the landlord.
”Just like we agreed last week with all the parties in this matter, as security committee we set Monday to visit the locus and we have all agreed that the status quo is maintained. By Thursday, the owner of Spenah beach should find another place to operate from,” D/RDC Kakunda told journalists adding; ”If he has any other outstanding issues, he should solve them out with his new landlord in an amicable way.”
