By Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia
Our attention has been drawn to articles in the local media regarding an ongoing process, in which Premier Roses- a Ruparelia Group company, seeks to lease 900 acres of land (part of the 3,300 acres owned by government) in Namulonge, Wakiso District. The articles have not fully delved into the process leading up to approval of our application- choosing to mainly focus on the presidential directive, which was issued after nearly two years of extensive stakeholder engagements and scrutiny of our proposal. Worse still, there has been almost no mention of the significance of this project to the economy. I hereby wish to make a few clarifications here below.
Premier Roses is Uganda’s largest single grower and exporter of flowers. With 60 hectares of greenhouses that produces 13 million cut-rose stems per month, we control 35 per cent of the export market. In pursuance of our expansion, in 2012, we developed a $100 million (Shs330 billion) – four year expansion plan, that needed between 1,000 to 1,500 acres of land.
After unsuccessfully trying to locate such amounts of commercially viable land from the private sector, on August 5, 2013 Premier Roses wrote to the Minister of State for Agriculture expressing interest to lease and develop Plot No 9, Block 158 at Namulonge. This land comprised of the largely undeveloped and bushy part of Namulonge called Nakyesasa. Total required land was 1,050 acres (425.5 hectares)- 400 acres for roses, 200 acres for vegetables (tomatoes, chilies, pepper and cucumber), 200 acres for fruits and 100 acres for growing herbs and spices. The remaining land would be used for storage facilities, a pack house, processing plant, offices, staff houses, a health centre, laboratory, vocation training centre, parking space, recreational facilities and a school for children of our staff.
This would increase Uganda’s flower acreage from the current 170 hectares to over 500 hectares. The project would also increase export earnings from (an average of $30m then to $120m a year in four years) and would also add an extra 7,000 jobs- a 60 per cent increase from the then 12,000 to 19,000 jobs.
Following receipt of our application, the Agriculture minister gave no objection and wrote to the Minister of State for Investment and ministry of Finance recommending us.
On October 1, 2013, we also wrote to the Minister of State for Investment at ministry of Finance, reiterating our interest and commitment to develop the said land. Satisfied with our proposal, the state Finance minister, in a mid-October “no objection” letter wrote to the Lands minister recommending that our application be considered, purely on its own merits. The Lands minister, as is the procedure, wrote to the chairman of Uganda Land Commission asking them to evaluate and consider our proposal.
Six months later, in April 2014, after a rigorous study of our proposal, the Uganda Land Commission approved a five-year lease term, extendable to full form- but only granted us 900 acres. This was also on condition that we enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with NARO on how to sustainably develop the project for the mutual benefit of both institutions.
It is important to note that on top of the “no objection” from the three ministers (agriculture, lands and investment) as well as the Uganda Land Commission, NARO, who is the user institution, has also given a green light to the project.
In an April 14, 2014 letter (Ref 03/00/00) addressed to the Agriculture minister copied to the Minister of Lands, the NARO Governing Council chairman, is on record saying, that given the existing pressures from land grabbers, entering into an agreement with fewer private sector developers, on clear terms on which to utilise the land was more preferable and would also help NARO realise revenue to fund their activities. It should be noted that about 1,000 acres had already been irregularly grabbed by different developers in Namulonge Township. In 2011, the Wakiso District Land Board irregularly attempted to allocate eight parcels of the land to private developers, but the move thwarted by the Uganda Land Commission.
Contrary to implied insinuations, all this time, (nearly two years), His Excellency the President, was never involved; the project was approved purely on its merit. However, following the April 2014, decision by Uganda Land Commission, the Minister of Lands on June 27, 2014, wrote to the President seeking his guidance on the final decision.
The President, nine months later and after extensive consultations, on March 12, wrote to the Minister of Lands and ministry of Agriculture) asking that our application be given due consideration, but also reiterated the need for a strict MoU between us and NARO. Subsequently, the Minister of Agriculture on June 23 wrote to NARO instructing them to work out an MoU with Premier Roses on this collaborative venture.
While we wait for the finalising and signing of this MoU which will guide how both NARO and Premier Roses will mutually benefit from this project, we wish to reiterate our commitment to this project. We have already secured the necessary resources to finance this development without any further delay.
We also appreciate the role of research and development in agriculture but we also know that this must be matched with sufficient levels of production. This is not the first time we are entering into such arrangements, the most recent being a Public Private Partnership that we entered into with Kololo SS to develop a Shs15bn sports complex for the shared benefit of both Kololo SSS and Kampala Parents- a Ruparelia Group School.
The Ruparelia Group is patiently committed to closing this process and developing this project in line with the laws of Uganda and in the mutual interest of NARO and the local communities of Namulonge.
Dr Ruparelia is chairman & founder of Ruparelia Group.
