By Dramadri Federick

Arua

6000 land application files of residents from Ayivu division under Arua city are lying idle without approval in Arua district lands office due to unclear direction from ministry of local government. These files were entirely drawn between 2015 and 2020 from Ayivu County which was by then operating under Arua district before the elevation of Arua municipality into city.

Benard Atiku Arua city land board chairperson says with the establishment of Arua city land board in August 2022, they have made several attempts made to request for these files but nothing has materialized. According to Atiku they have received complaints from file owners which are not over due to the delayed procession of files but it’s hard for them to explain “There are over 6000 files which are been held by Arua district, when I went to ministry of lands, they said they had already guided together with ministry of local government on sharing assets and liabilities. These land files are actually liabilities of Arua city which are supposed to be transferred and legally approved by the statutory body which is the land board. So the files are redundant and yet the owners want their files”. Atiku explained. Meanwhile Moses Adriko the secretary for finance, planning and economic development Arua city council explains that this deliberate move has not only affected the applicants but has also trickled down to loss of revenue to Arua city council.

But Alfred Okuonzi Arua district chairperson claims that ministry of local government had in a previous letter which we were unable to access guided that the files be processed by Arua district as no assets and liabilities are to be shared at the moment due to the certain pressure over them especially in the newly created administrative units. “I inherited close to 7000 files, we can’t give these files to the city because these people have already paid to us and we have the revenue, this thing is technical in the sense that the applications are in the names of Arua district. Where it’s in the names of Arua district we are to come in and complete those old files unless that letter is withdrawn by the ministry.” Okuonzi stated
Since the creation of Arua city and the subsequent amalgamation of Ayivu County into a city division, there has been contestations over sharing of assets and liabilities affecting in service delivery between Arua district and the city.