Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam, known mononymously as Akon

In fulfillment of the government’s promise to give Akon land for his city, the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) issued the Senegalese-American singer with a land title so he could build his city in Mukono district.

According to the ULC acting chairperson Prof. Pen Mogi Nyeko, the land that was given to Akon is under the freehold register and is owned by Uganda Land Commission.

However, if Akon takes the land and builds a city where proposes to build it more than 1,000 residents from the villages of Bulebi, Sango, Mbazi and Lulagwe will be displaced.

Angry, the residents on the land are saying the ULC did not consult them when they were giving the land to Akon which, they add, is a mistake since they claim the land belongs to them.

“We received no communication,” says Margret Nabbanja, a resident at Bulebi village when it was revealed to her that Akon was taking over the now disputed land.

Salim Kabanda, another resident on the land, says he and other resident have lived on the said land long before the current government came to power. He also expressed shock that the ULC could allocate their land without first informing them, the residents and land owners.

However, Hon. Judith Nabakooba, Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development insists the land title is registered under the Uganda Land Commission and so its allocation to Akon is entirely within the ministry’s remit.

Akon had originally planned to build a "real-life Wakanda" in Senegal on the back of his near-eponymous cryptocurrency, Akoin.

This currency, the singer claimed, would be "established as stable currency alternative throughout Africa".

In accord with Akon’s plans, the Senegal government gifted 2,000 acres of land to Akon to enable him start the project off, but nothing materialised and that’s probably why the 48-year-old singer is building his city in Uganda.