City pastor Daniel Walugembe has dismissed accusations regarding the Katanga Valley land near Wandegeya, stating that he only holds Kibanja interests and is not the landlord.
He said his interests were confirmed by the courts of law through several rulings in 2015, 2019, and 2021, while his accusers lost their claims.
“I acquired my interests from the family of the late Ashe Mukasa Sendawula, who sold me 15 acres of their Kibanja, while 13.7 acres were sold to me by other licensees. It is unfortunate that some people are now blackmailing me, claiming I grabbed their bibanja, yet their claims were dismissed due to lack of evidence,” he said.
Addressing the media in Kampala, Walugembe, armed with documents, said that his interests were confirmed by court rulings that were neither appealed nor challenged.
He revealed that he purchased the 15 acres from five family members: Bulasio Buyise, Jonathan Masembe, Sendawula Ronald, Sendawula Isiah, and Latimer Mpagi.
Documents show that these family members are beneficiaries of the estate of the late Ashe Mukasa Sendawula and were declared bonafide occupants of the Katanga land by the High Court, alongside their licensees, including Walugembe.
According to Walugembe, none of the accusers have ever presented documents proving their Kibanja interest in Katanga. Instead, he says they have been misleading the public and authorities about his land interests.
In 2015, the Land Division of the High Court, presided over by then-Judge Alphonse Owiny Dollo, cited the 1998 Land Act, which provides that an occupant seeking to benefit from bonafide occupancy must prove 12 years of possession without any challenge.
The court declared Makerere University as the registered proprietor of the land.
“While the plaintiffs are protected by law as bonafide occupants and are entitled to continue enjoying their occupation, I have found that the plaintiffs have been in uninterrupted occupation of the suit land and are therefore protected by law from eviction,” the court held.
The court’s decision cemented the agreement that the family had signed with Walugembe for the sale and transfer of their interest in 15 acres of Kibanja.
Court documents show that in October 2017, five family members, jointly with Walugembe, entered a consent judgment before then-Justice Alexandria Nkonge Rugadya, confirming they had sold their interests to him.
The consent judgment indicated that the family had surrendered a vacant Kibanja to the pastor and had also undertaken to evict illegal occupants.
In September 2021, the High Court, presided over by Justice Nkonge, dismissed with costs a case in which 100 people had sued Walugembe along with the family members.
The group had attempted to challenge the consent judgment but failed to demonstrate any legal grievance regarding the land or previous court rulings.
The group was represented by Hassan Ssegawa Kambugu, Bobby M. Kasujja, Proscovia Najjemba, Nsangi Sarah, and Nabuule Beatrice.
“The applicants (100 claimants) in this matter, who also claim to be bonafide occupants in the same area—a contention which the respondents (the family) deny—never took the trouble to challenge the court’s decision, which had already been upheld as early as 2015,” Justice Nkonge ruled.
According to the court, since ownership of the land had been determined as early as the 1990s and reaffirmed in 2015, the claimants could not lawfully revive the matter years later.
These revelations come after media reports in which a section of Katanga residents accused Walugembe of falsely claiming ownership of the land.
