Arua Hill Stadium land is mine - I have the tittle, Eng. Aita tells off critics

BY ANDREW COHEN AMVESI

September 19, 2022

ARUA. Eng. Joel Aita, the Director of Development Infrastructure (DI), a company undertaking the construction of Arua Hill stadium and business park in Arua city, has come out publicly to tell off his critics that the land on which the multi-billion project is sitting on belongs to him.

Aita shocked the nation on Twitter over the weekend when he responded to a post by one of his online critics that he actually has the tittle for Arua Hill Stadium land.

This is after the local posted that: “Finally, I have the documents, now follow the threads,” referring to the lease agreement between the then Arua Municipal Council and DI (U) Limited over the said Arua Stadium and business park project.

The post that attracted several reactions, mostly in favour of the project forced Aita to respond by saying, for the next 49 years the land belongs to DI.

“Glad you got the copy. Now you know for the next 49 years the land is ours. I actually have the tittle,” Aita fired back.

“Don’t worry they are just beating the bottom of the drum. The land is mine for the next 49 years. Let someone try to cancel it and see if they will succeed,” Aita added.

Later in a telephone conversation over the matter, Aita assured this reporter that anybody who tries to stop the project should prepare to face the consequences.

He said as DI, they have projected an annual income of shs20bn from the project upon completion multiplied by 49 years plus a compensation of about shs40bn, all amounting to more than a trillion Ugandan shillings to be paid to him in case anybody dares to cancel the project.

The standoff came days after Arua City cancel raised concerns over the delayed completion of the project and called for review of its terms.

But to Aita, the delay was mainly due to the two-year corona virus lockdown and the continued change in weather that kept on affecting the progress of the work which is now at 80 per cent

According to Aita, the original contract for the project was for three years and their target was to finish it in two years.

“Our own internal target was by July this year we would have finished but from the contract we shall be finishing the project in July next year. I think by May next year we shall have completed the work. I would say the project is still within the contract timeline but not within our set target of two years. The delay was mostly caused by the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak,” Aita said.

The 20, 000-seater capacity Arua Hill stadium has a total of 200 different businesses ranging from shops, showrooms, hotels, apartments and banks.

Most of the businesses are owned by different people. DI sold off around 60 per cent of the businesses which will be owned by different people from all parts of the country.

Officials said upon completion, the facility will provide a lot of opportunity for the people of West Nile to reap from different businesses since more foreign currency will be attracted to flow into the Arua economy.

The stadium will have around 300 parking spaces – meaning it will become the busiest and biggest business center in Arua and the whole of Northern Uganda for people to tap opportunities on a daily basis.

Arua Hill stadium will also double as the home field for Arua Hill Sports Club (SC).