Stephen Sserukuma, 97, who is fighting to save his 13 acres of land in Kigombya Village, Mukono District, from alleged land grabbers plotting to evict him. PHOTO/JESSICA SABANO
A 97-year-old man has petitioned Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo to intervene in a land case that he has chased for the last 24 years.
Mr Stephen Sserukuma is fighting to save his 13 acres of land in Kigombya Village, Mukono District, from alleged land grabbers plotting to evict him.
“We have been in court for more than 20 years. We started with Jinja Court and then Mukono (Court). I am 97 years old and the court still wastes my time by making unnecessary adjournments,” Mr Sserukuma decried.
Mr Sserukuma, who is an heir to his late father, Rev Titto Musoke Kilevu, said his father bought the land in 1920s. Kilevu and other family members were buried on the same piece of land.
Mr Sserukuma’s daughter, Rev Merabu Naluggwa, said they have moved to court several times without any progress and they now feel that they are not getting justice.
“We have used a lot of money to and from court thinking justice will prevail but nothing. We are calling on President Museveni and the Chief Justice to help us get justice,” Rev Naluggwa decried.
The contested land has since turned out to be a nightmare to Mr Sserukuma who claims that those who want to evict him have always threatened to destroy his plantations.
Speaking to this publication at the weekend, he claimed to have lived on the land since he was born in 1927.
He added that in a bid to save his land, he filed a lawsuit in 2000 against two men who are attempting to evict him.
He noted that wherever they go to court, they meet new lawyers representing the accused, which has led to so many adjournments to enable the new lawyers to get acclimatised with the facts of the case.
“I don’t know if the judge cannot realise that these lawyers just play tricks. I believe they want to take advantage of my age and grab the land,” he decried.
Rev Naluggwa added that they were surprised in 2022 when they realised that the court had passed judgment without their notice.
“We were not notified when passing that judgment. We are people who can never miss court but, in that year, we were just told that the court had passed judgment on April 25, 2022. We appealed in July, paying Shs20m,” she said.
In 2014 and 2017, unidentified men reportedly stormed the area, armed with a land title produced in 2012 from the Mukono District land office, and destroyed property including some houses and food.
When contacted, of the accused persons denied selling off the land, noting that he is not the administrator.
Mr James Mulunga, the area chairperson, said he is aware of the matter and waiting for the court’s decision.
Mr James Ereemye, the public relations officer of the Judiciary, advised the family to go to Mukono court registrar and sort the issue out.
“For long, our government has been facing a shortage of judicial officials but the government is trying to sort out the issue to handle the backlogs,” Mr Ereemye said.
