Prime
Court orders cancellation of tycoon Kavuya’s land title
Kampala tycoon, Mr Ben Kavuya. Photo Courtesy
What you need to know:
- In his defence, Mr Kavuya had insisted that he purchased and entered the land in 1994 with the knowledge and consent of the registered proprietors and squatters on the land.
The High Court in Masaka has ordered the cancellation of a land title that a Kampala tycoon, Mr Ben Kavuya, had obtained over 714.3 hectares (about 2.8 square miles) in Kabula County, Sembabule District.
Justice Victoria Nakintu Nkwanga Katumba on Friday, June 11, ruled that Mr Kavuya, who is also a founder member of Legacy Group and Global Capital Savings Company and Rutungo Investments Limited, with interests in real estate and money lending, had obtained the land title in a manner that contravened the law.
“The registration of the defendant as proprietor on the suit land was fraudulent and unlawful,” Justice Katumba ruled.
The ruling brought to an end a six-year suit that was brought against Mr Kavuya by seven people in 2015.
According to the court documents that Saturday Monitor has seen, the complainants accuse the tycoon of having used a court order to transfer the land into his name.
The seven include Mr Byaruhanga Kasirye, Godfrey Kato, the administrator of the estate of the late Bulasio Kamanzi, Mr James Nzabamwita, Mr James Reberon the administrator of the estate of Gelvasi Nyirangabo, Mr Edward Rutaaba, Mr Robert Kamunini, and Mr Yosam Mugisha, the administrator of the estate of the late Samwiri Rwitirinya,
The complainants also told the court that Mr Kavuya acquired another part of the land on the basis of a sales agreement he signed with a group of cattle keepers calling themselves the Kasana Balunzi Cooperative Society.
The complainants say the sale agreement could not be legitimate because the said vendors had no interest in the land.
They also argued that even if the sales agreement was legitimate and legal, its legality should not have been used by Mr Kavuya to transfer all the 714.3 hectares into his name.
The complainants sought a declaration that the sales agreement between Mr Kavuya and members of the Kasana Balunzi Cooperative Society, who were not the registered proprietors of the land in question, was fraudulent, unlawful and of no consequence.
In his defence, Mr Kavuya had insisted that he purchased and entered the land in 1994 with the knowledge and consent of the registered proprietors and squatters on the land. He also argued that he had been in possession of the land unchallenged since 1994, which nullifies the complainants claims.
But Justice Katumba ruled that the land in question formed part of the estates of the late Yofesi Botereza, Mikairi Ntirindunga, Paul Ntago, Rwamwizire, Bulasio Kamanzi, Gelvasi Nyiringabo and Samwiri Rwitirinya.
She said the sale agreement on which Mr Kavuya based to lay claim over the land was fraudulent and unlawful.
Court also ordered Mr Kavuya to pay Shs200m as general damages and meet costs of the suit.
