Logistics company drags lands ministry to court over Namanve title cancellation

A logistic company on Friday dragged the Commissioner Land Registration to Mukono High Court noting that the cancellation of its title for a 45-acre piece of land at Namanve Industrial Park is illegal.

The commissioner’s order roots from the complaint of city businessman Godfrey Kirumira and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) over the certificate of title.

Kirumira had lodged a complaint with the lands ministry saying the title was illegally issued to Liberty ICD Limited, in Namanve Central Forest Reserve without following the right procedures and consent from NFA.

The certificate of title is comprised in Freehold Register Volume 1011 folio 15, Kyaggwe Block 113, Plot 1425.

According to a June 2 notice, Baker Mugaino, a land officer on behalf of the commissioner land registration, revealed that NFA confirmed that the land in question falls inside compartment number 11 of Namanve Central Forest Reserve as per statutory instrument number 63 of 1998.

However, in a suit filed on Friday in the High Court at Mukono, Liberty ICD Ltd has requested an order, setting aside the commissioner’s directive for the cancellation of its title.

The company faults the commissioner for causing the cancellation of its title while there was a subsisting suit before Mukono High Court, touching the legality and claim of interest on plots 392 and 1425.

"Commissioner’s decision was erroneous in law because they did not give us (Liberty ICD Ltd) copies of Kirumira and NFA complaint detailing the illegalities claimed," the company asserts.

It also contends that the commissioner was wrong in law to proceed and arrive at a decision without proof of any particulars of illegalities occasioned by Liberty ICD Ltd in regard to the title of plot 1425.

Mr Minaz Karmali, the Liberty ICD Ltd co-director, in a sworn affidavit states that prior to the commissioner’s decision, he had written to the court registrar over the matter and hence was aware of it.

NFA has land on plot 1425 because the title is registered in the name of Liberty ICD Limited, a bonafide purchaser

"The company bought the land from Wycliff Kawalya in 2010 after carrying out due diligence in respect to the title," Mr Karmali said.

The investor contests NFA’s assertion that plot 1425 forms compartment 11 of its land, per statutory instrument No. 63 of 1998, arguing that land in Uganda is not legally identified as compartments but defined by blocks and plots upon survey and demarcation.

Precedent

To support his case, Karmali attached to his court documents a recent court ruling that stated certificates of titles for plots of land at Namanve Industrial Park were issued legally. The court then prohibited Commissioner Land Registration from canceling the titles.

The court also ruled that land measuring approximately 900 acres no longer forms part of Namanve Central Forest Reserve.

The court also ordered government officials to stop marking and managing land in compartments, ruling that they are not recognised legally and cannot be captured on the existing official computerized land management and registration systems.

Court battle

Kirumira and Karmali are in court over the ownership of the land, with the former accusing the latter of trespassing on his land.

Kirumira filed a suit against Karmali in the High Court at Mukono on November 29, 2021.

Later, Karmali also filed a suit against Kirumira, accusing him of forgery and fraud. Karmali’s lawyer George Kintu instituted a forgery case against Kirumira under Criminal Registration Book (CRB) number CRB 157/2022 at Seeta Police Station recently.

But the two suits were consolidated by the Senior Resident Judge of Mukono High Court, awaiting a hearing on July 15. 

In his suit, Kirumira said he had been the registered proprietor of the land comprised in plots 392 and 393, respectively, for the past five years which he fenced off. He said the kibanja has an access road to the titled land owned by him.

Later Kirumira filed an amended plaint, contending that he is the registered proprietor of the land in FRV 1110 Folio 13 Plot 393 Kyaggwe Block 113 at Katikolo, a Kibanja measuring 45 acres of which 35 acres are on land comprised in Plot 392 Kyaggwe Block 113 and 10 acres adjacent to it.

Court documents indicate that Kirumira allegedly bought a Kibanja from Yokana Mukasa Galikwoleka at Kolo LCI, Nantabulirwa Parish, Goma Division Mukono district on October 30, 2017.

However, a death certificate from the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) submitted before Mukono High Court indicates that Galikwoleka, a shamba boy working for the late Charles Kagenya, died on July 20, 1996.

A document dated November 30, 2021, purportedly signed by Mariam Namayanja, the private secretary to the President, indicated that Kirumira and Karmali were invited for negotiations, but before the negotiations were held, Kirumira filed a suit regarding the matter at Mukono High Court, stalling the talks.