By Arua City Communication Team
The leadership of Arua District Local Government has officially handed over a total of 4,442 land files that have been in their possession since the creation of cities in 2020 to Arua City Council. The handover ceremony took place on March 21st, 2024 at Arua District Council Hall.
Several factors impeded the transfer of these important documents including the expiration of tenure for members serving on the District Land Board and prolonged delay in communication regarding guidelines on file handovers from officials at Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development.
Simon Ababo, Secretary for Arua District Land Board appreciated both CAO and City Clerk for diligently following up with relevant offices concerning this matter.
“To a larger extent, the delay affected service delivery to the public and we apologize because we needed to be sure of the procedures to see that a smooth handover is done. We have a total of 4,442 files and out of these the highest number of files comes from Dadamu with 1578 files. All these files were for freehold,” Simon Ababo revealed.
The Arua City Clerk, David Kyasanku, expressed his appreciation for the historical significance of this event as it marks one of the first instances where files are being transferred between a district and a city. Kyasanku noted that this journey began on July 1st, 2020 when cities were established, and tensions arose regarding the sharing of assets between mother districts and municipalities. This has adversely impacted relationships amongst leaders of both entities. While thanking the district for their peaceful handover and cooperation, Kyasanku requested additional support from district leadership to guide them through these challenges. The City Clerk also lauded the District CAO for exhibiting transparency and engaging efficiently with city authorities.
Phanuel Eli, the chairperson of the District Land Board, announced that the district is currently in the process of developing their physical plan. He expressed his delight at the successful culmination of this long-standing endeavor, which has set a historic precedent due to the remarkable collaboration between two key stakeholders: namely, the city and district. The Chairperson District Land Board also commended the Ministry of Land for issuing an instrument that guided them through every step of this handover process.
Arua City Mayor, Wadri Sam Nyakua, praised Arua District's unwavering commitment to organizing an enormous volume of files for efficient handover. Nyakua further lauded both custodians for handling this transition with utmost professionalism and maturity while emphasizing that there were no personal issues involved.
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