The Land Division of the High court in Kampala has stopped the payment of Shs 32bn to city businessman Muhammad Buwule Kasasa from government as compensation for part of land in Mutungo being contested by Kasasa and the family of the late Sir Edward Muteesa II.
Dr Kasasa was due to receive Shs 26bn from government for acquisition of 12 acres for the External Security Organisation (ESO) and another Shs 6bn as compensation for the construction of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway.
In two separate rulings issued on December 22, 2020, justice John Eudes Keitirima noted that Kasasa lied to government, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), and National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) that the said land had no caveats despite the fact that there is a pending civil suit on the same.
Keitirima, therefore, concluded that it would be unfair for government or its agencies to release such substantial amounts of money for land which is still being contested in court.
"In this application (Miscellaneous Application No; 1141 of 2020) the applicants have shown that the 1st respondent (Kasasa) is about to be paid Shs 26bn as compensation for the suit land of which they contest the 1st respondent's ownership and that they would suffer substantial loss if the said money is paid before the intended appeal is heard and determined on its merits," he said.
On another Miscellaneous Application No; 1232 of 2020, where UNRA sought court's guidance on whom to compensate on the said land, justice Keitirima ordered UNRA to deposit Shs 6.1bn with court, until the court case to determine the rightful owner of the land in question is dispensed of.
This is the newest development in the 17-year-old land dispute over one square mile in Mutungo, Kampala whose ownership is being contested in court between beneficiaries of the estate of former Buganda king/first President of Uganda, Sir Edward Mutesa II, and Dr Muhamed Buwule Kasasa.
In March this year, justice Keitirima dismissed civil suit No. 622 of 2003 in which the Muteesa family were contesting Kasasa's ownership of the said land, insisting that it was part of their father's estate.
But the Muteesa family immediately contested this decision on the ground that justice Keitirima dismissed the case in defiance of a court of appeal order that it had to be heard on merits
The Court Of Appeal had earlier ordered all cases related to this dispute to be consolidated and heard on merits but the High court served one case and dismissed it. This dismissal is further being challenged in the Court of Appeal seeking to have the entire dispute heard as a consolidated case.
However, before the court could hear this appeal, Kasasa sneakily applied for compensation from government, UNRA and NWSC over a chuck of land that is going to be used by these government agencies. Surprisingly, the ministry of Finance and the attorney general gave a green light to this transaction, despite the latter being a party to both of these court cases.
"I agree with the submissions by counsel for the appellants that the effect of dismissing civil suit No: 622 of 2003 involving the parties herein gave rise to the 1st respondent's demand for payment/compensation from the said government institutions in respect of the suit land on grounds that there is no pending case against him. It would therefore render the intended appeal nugatory in event that the applicants are successful as they may have lost out on the compensation in respect to the suit land."
FRAUDSTER
This is not the first time that Kasasa has been trying to defraud government of compensation money. In 2018, it took the intervention of the Commission of Inquiry by justice Catherine Bamugemereire to stop the payment of Shs 7bn which parliament had approved as interest arising out of delayed compensation to Kasasa.
In this case, Kasasa wanted government to pay him Shs 7bn because they had delayed to pay him for the land that he'd sold earlier in 2002 at Shs 2.4bn.
"The commission has received information that the aforesaid land is the subject of compensation by the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) using the Land Fund, where so far Shs 2.4bn has been paid, and a further Shs 7bn is due for payment today."
Signed by Dr Douglas Singiza, the commission's secretary, it said: "The purpose of this letter is to halt any further payments for the above-mentioned land as the commission proceeds with investigation into the matter."
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