Court orders Amongi to vacate disputed Lira land

The High Court in Lira District has ordered the Gender minister, Ms Betty Amongi, to vacate a contested piece of land where she had built a house in Lira City.

The contested land comprising leasehold register Volume 3758, Folio 11, Plot 38 on Erute Road, Lira City East Division, forms part of the estate of the late Bensey Olong.

Around 2005, Ms Amongi expressed interest in this family land measuring 0.352 hectares. On or about December 22, 2005, she went ahead and bought the land from one Fred Okaka – the deceased Olong’s son for Shs6.5 million.

Court said Ms Lillian Akullo, who is Mr Okaka’s sister, had already applied for a lease from the Land Administration Department in Lira in or about 1993 and was granted the same on December 8, 1993.

Ms Akullo’s lease was subsequently extended for a further five-year term on or about November 3, 2006. To make the matter even more complicated, the same lease was further extended for 49 years, which will expire around 2055, and Ms Akullo had already obtained a certificate of title of the land under contention on July 11, 2007.

Developing the land
Ms Amongi, however, went ahead and developed the land by constructing a house thereon despite several requests and demands that she vacates the land, according to a court document obtained by the Daily Monitor.  

This prompted Ms Akullo, through her lawyer, to sue her brother (Mr Okaka) and Ms Amongi at the High Court in Lira under a Civil Suit No 0008 of 2008.

She sued her brother (second defendant) and the minister (first defendant) for punitive damages and trespass.  

And in this case that dragged on for close to 16 years, Ms Akullo was represented by a lawyer, Henry Kilama Komakech, whereas M/s Donge & Company Advocates represented Ms Amongi. M/s Acan and Company Advocates represented Mr Okaka. 

In her written statement of defence, the minister, however, denied Ms Akullo’s claims and said she purchased the land from Mr Okaka without the knowledge of any person’s interests therein and is, therefore, a bonafide purchaser for value.   

Ms Amongi further claimed that at the time of selling, the plaintiff was not the lawful owner of the land, and that the property was under Mr Okaka’s care or custody for and on behalf of the beneficiaries of the said estate.   

She also filed a counter claim for a declaratory order that she is the rightful owner of the land.

Ms Amongi further sought court orders for a permanent injunction restraining the plaintiff, her agents or person claiming title under her from evicting, trespassing or interfering in any way the defendant’s quiet possession, use and enjoyment of the disputed land. 

The minister also asked for orders of cancellation of certificate of title obtained by the plaintiff, interest and costs of the suit.

On his part, Mr Okaka denied all his sister’s allegations and averred that the contentious land forms part of their late mother estate.

He also said he is the caretaker and or intended administrator of the said estate.

Mr Okaka added that the land transaction was concluded with the consent of almost all the beneficiaries of the said estate, as the proceeds of the said sale was to take care of the welfare of the estate’ beneficiaries. 

However, Justice Alex Mackay Ajiji, while delivering the verdict on January 22, said there is no evidence by Ms Amongi and Mr Okaka to prove any act of fraud committed by the plaintiff. 

This is because Ms Akullo started processing the leasehold certificate during the lifetime of her late mother and before Mr Okaka sold the land to the minister

Court ruling
Court ruled that for a person to claim to be a bonafide purchaser for value without notice, he or she must have a certificate of title.

“He must prove that he purchased the property in good faith; he has no knowledge of the fraud; he purchased for valuable consideration; the vendor has apparent title; he purchases without notice of any fraud and he was not part of the fraud,” the court ruled, adding: “Having found that the plaintiff is the lawful owner of the suit land, the counter claim stands to be dismissed with costs to the plaintiff.”

Considering the amount of inconvenience that Ms Akullo went through when she found a house constructed on her land without her consent, court awarded her Shs10 million for general damages at an interest rate of 12 percent from the date of the judgment.

The court also declared that Ms Akullo is the rightful owner of Volume 3758, Folio 11, Plot No 38, Erute Road, further issuing an eviction order against the minister, her agents and servants from the land.  

A permanent injunction has also been issued restraining Minister Amongi and Mr Okaka, and or their agents from trespassing onto the plaintiff’s land or interfering with it in any way.  However, Ms Amongi yesterday said the land was sold to her by the consent of former Housing state minister Sam Engola, who signed the sale agreement as guarantor for his brother Okaka, who is the administrator to their mother’s estate.

“In court, [the late] Engola stated that the portion of land sold to me was for his brother Fred Okaka, with another portion for his sister Lillian Akullu. Court has stated that their brother should refund my money. I am waiting for their decision as a family because the land was sold as part of their family estate. So long as they refund my money invested in the plot, I will vacate,” she said via WhatsApp message.

The minister added: “By the time I bought the land, it had no title. It (land) was in the possession of Fred Okaka, the brother. The sister was in London. She processed the title in 2007 after I had already constructed a house.”

Before his demise,  Engola said: “Lillian was also informed about the sale of that land but when she came back from London and found a house on it, she started complaining that she did not get the money for the sale of the property. She was saying she wanted a share since the land belonged to the mother.”

The evidence presented involves a witness being questioned in court by the party that called them to appear.

“I being the clan leader I called for the family meeting which was attended by both defendants and the plaintiff and we agreed that since her complaint was that she did not get any money…..we agreed with Hon Betty Amongi that she should add more money,” Mr Engola said.  

“The family agreed that Ms Amongi should add Shs16 million for Akullo but when the minister brought the cheque for the money, Ms Akullo refused the cheque saying she wanted more money,” he added.  

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