Prime
Busamba row: Lands officials cited in meddling with caveats
Some of the affected residents at a piece of land, which was cleared by a grader in Namayumba Sub-county, Wakiso District, in December 2023. Photo | BUSEIN SAMILU
What you need to know:
- This puts more than 5,000 residents, who have been settled on the land for more than 30 years, at risk of eviction.
Senior officials in the land registration office at the Ministry of Lands are on the spot following a decision to remove caveats from the 24 plots located on the disputed 1,044 acre-land in Namayumba Sub-county, Wakiso District.
Aggrieved family members of the late Gabudyeri Lubajja and more than 5,000 binanja owners have accused Mr Baker Mugaino, the commissioner for Land Registration, and other officials in the ministry of removing caveats on the disputed land without following the law.
Trouble started after Mr Mugaino in a February 1 letter signed on his behalf by one Herman Nsubuga Galiwango cleared the removal of caveats from 24 plots on the land located on Busiro Block 15, yet the Busamba land dispute is still in court.
Mr Mathias Mulumba, a family lawyer and grandson of the late Lubajja, also cited a conflict of interest after it emerged that the commissioner is among the 28 people sued for allegedly conniving with the defendants and causing transfers of pieces of land belonging to the late Lubajja family.
The caveats had affected plots; 377, 440, 432, 431, 398, 390, 391,380, 382, 379, 378, 376, 446, 439, 438, 430, 405, 404, 401, 399, 396,395, 393 and 394.
But Mr Mugaino’s decision puts more more than 5,000 bona fide bibanja owners living in the disputed land in four villages of Busamba, Gayaza, Kiryankoko and Ngondwe at the risk of being evicted by the purported owners led by a land dealer, Ms Berna Nakato. Ms Nakato claims to have stake of 200 acres on the disputed 1,044 acre-land.
When contacted via WhatsApp yesterday, Mr Mugaino said he needed time to collect facts about the matter.
“First of all, the letter was written by the registrar-in-charge of Wakiso District. I don’t have facts with me here, therefore, I need time to gather facts. The ministry empowered the zonal offices, which have fully fledged departments across the country,” he said.
Minister picks interest
When contacted at the weekend, Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba said she was following the matter and had tasked the commissioner to explain why he took a decision, which, according to Mr Mulumba and the affected residents, should be done by the courts of law.
Ms Irene Nassuuna of Nassuuna & Company Advocates defines a caveat as a formal notice or warning given by a party interested in land to a court, judge or registrar of titles against the performance of certain acts within his power and jurisdiction.
“A caveat acts as a warning or formal notice to tell the public that there is an interest on the land or property for a particular reason. The word caveat means ‘beware’ and lodging a caveat on Land warns anyone dealing with the property that someone has a priority interest in that property,” the lawyer wrote on September 29, 2021.
Ms Nassuuna added: “Under Section 139 of the Registration of Titles Act states that a caveat can only be withdrawn by the caveator, when it lapses, by court order or when the caveator consents to another’s registration that deals with the property’s title.”
This publication understands that the family lawyer and a group of aggrieved Bibanja holders in Busamba and other neighbouring villages are in the process of petitioning the Inspector General of Government, Ms Beti Kamya, to investigate claims of complicity.
If the caveats are removed as per the commissioner’s decision, more than 5,000 residents, majority Bibanja owners who have been settling on the land for more than 30 years, are likely to be evicted. This is because their only security is the caveats as the courts of law handle the matter.
Some of the affected residents in Busamba speak to the Monitor last year.
In the letter, the commissioner said: “This office received and registered a caveat by Mpamulungi Josephine under instrument number WBU- 00351876 of 03/03/2023 on the above plots of land. The caveator claims in her caveat to halt transfers on the said land by the administrators without considering her interest in the land.” Ms Mpamulungi, according to the letter, informed the commissioner that she filed a civil suit HCCS 8 of 2023, seeking for the revocation of Letters of Administration (77 of 2010) that were secured by the two administrators, Mr Richard Semitala and Eustarous Ssegantebuka, and the duo’s subsequent sale to other parties, including Ms Nakato and other people.
Mr Mugaino added that his office received a complaint from the registered owners (not named) of the said land, regarding the caveats’ registration on their land.
“It is alleged that the matter regarding this land was investigated by the Minister of Lands and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and it was concluded that they genuinely hold their titles,” he said.
“On 19/12/2023 summons were sent out to Mpamulungi Josephine as directed by the Commissioner for Land Registration under S.168 of RTA, directing the caveator to appear on the 28/12/2023 to address issues raised regarding registration of her caveat. However, on the appointed date the caveator did not show up and there was no communication to explain her absence,” the letter adds.
At the weekend, Mr Mulumba said: “What the commissioner did is illegal because the caveats were legally put on the said land and he is not empowered by law to remove them as well.”
Ms Mpamulungi and Ms Teddy Namusoke have dragged 28 people to court, including Ms Nakato, Abudallah Musisi Kyakonye, Justine Teopister Nakityo, Wavuvumira Mukasa, Margret Maria Namukasa, Sophus Kiwanuka, Daniel Lubajja, Medrinah Njuki Nakandi, Metisha Nambolanyi, Isaac Kayanja, and Maria Bbanja.
Others are Hasifa Nankabirwa, Faridah Namayanja, Mathias Kimuli, Grace Nandugga, Geofrey Okunga, Aisha Namuli Lubwama Zawedde, Fred Gyezaho, Levi Musene, Godfrey Ninsima, Keneddy Tukke Kaggwa, Deo Musoke, Tereza Nalwoga, Florence Nalubega, Ason Kalema, Rose Nabukenya, Hanifa Majwegga Babirye, and the Commissioner Land Registration.
In the civil suit 24 of 2024, Ms Mpamulungi and Namusoke accused the defendants of, among others, sharing part of the estate of the late Lubajja among themselves yet they are not beneficiaries.
The latest development stretches from the so far 12-month legal battle between the grandchildren of the late Gabudyeri Lubajja (original owner of the land); one led by Mpamulungi and Namusoke and the other by Richard Semitala and Eustarious Ssegantebuka (purported administrator).
What family says
Ms Mpamulungi, according to the letter that the Lands Ministry is investigating, registered the caveats illegally, because “at the time of registration of the said caveat the complainants had already obtained their titles in their names, therefore, the caveat was over taken by events.”
“From the above analysis, therefore, it was confirmed that caveats were erroneously registered on the said plots of land. This is, therefore, to direct that the Register be rectified by vacating the said caveat having been erroneously registered,” it reads.
Mr Semitala and Ssegantebuka were sued by their family members led by Ms Mpamulungi and Namusoke. They accuse the duo of, among others, fraudulently obtaining letters of administration and later using them to parcel part of the land amounting to 150 acres to Ms Nakato.
Ms Nakato reportedly purchased an additional 50 acres from some family members to raise her stake to 200 acres.
