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Magistrate accused by mother of forging will
Ms Lovisa Ayazika Kateme, the biological mother of Mukono Grade 11 magestrate, Mr Steven Johson Waidhuba. PHOTO/TAUSI NAKATO
What you need to know:
- In a meeting convened to resolve the processing of the Letters of Administration, Mr Waidhuba denied any wrongdoing towards his mother and family, saying “he has always been supportive to his family members every time they had problems”.
Mukono Court Grade II Magistrate, Mr Steven Johnson Waidhuba, is in the spotlight for allegedly forging a Will with intention to deny his biological mother property ownership.
Mr Waidhuba on May, 4, 2023, reportedly secured a letter of probate from the High Court in Iganga under Administration Cause No. 11 of 2023 signed by Justice David Batema, indicating that he was the heir of the late Ayazika Yokusani alias Batakana Ayazika Yokusani Azimavesi Kubota, a husband to his mother, Ms Lovisa Ayazika.
He is said to have presented a Will he signed with late Ayazika on August 17, 2017, giving him authority to manage his estate which he presented at the aforementioned Court to get Letters of Administration.
The property in the estate include 50 acres of land in Budhuuba Village, Ikumbya Sub-county, Luuka District with a residential house, nine acres of land in Kasolo Village, Bulamagi Sub-county, Iganga District and a cattle farm in Budhuuba Village.
Others are two plots of land in Kaliro town, a piece of land near Budhuuba Church in Luuka District, and another piece of land in Bukova Trading Centre in Luuka District.
“. . . I have bequeathed my homestead/house and land thereto, all my land at Kasolo village, Bulamagi Sub-county in Iganga District, to my customary heir Steven Waidhuba Bunaalya, and he will be charged with the duty of taking care of my wife Ms Lovisa Ayazika."
“The rest of my land I have not distributed and other personal property will be distributed among the rest of my sons by the heir and executor of my will,” the Will reads in part.
Ms Edinansi Kyewayogera and Mr Wilber Kanabalwa Waidhuba are said to have witnessed the Will signed by the late Ayazika.
Mr Daudi Ruth Waidhuba Isendabaguzi Mpamuleyi was jointly appointed with Mr Steven Waidhuba to be the executors of the purported Will, with a warning that nobody should execute without them.
“It is incumbent upon all persons and all my children to respect my Will and nobody has a right to lay claim on anything I have not bequeathed to him or her,” the Will adds.
However, on May 23, 2023, the mother and six other children filed a petition in Iganga High Court, asking for revocation of letters of probate issued to Mr Waidhuba to the estate of the late Ayazika.
They also wanted the Court to declare that the purported Will of the late Ayazika dated and allegedly signed on August 17, 2023, presented to Court by Mr Waidhuba, naming him as Executor is invalid.
They further want the Court to declare that the late Ayazika died intestate [without a will], and an order for grant of letters of administration to the estate of late Ayazika to his siblings.
The mother and Mr Waidhuba’s siblings also want the Court to issue a permanent injunction restraining the defendant (Mr Waidhuba ) from acting under the purported Will and or letters of probate to intermeddle with the estate of late Ayazika.
Ms Lovisa Ayazika, together with six children of the deceased, describes the Will as “invalid” because it left out Mr Waidhuba’s mother in share of the property.
“You cannot say that this Will is authentic when the nine acres of land at Kasolo Village, I particularly bought, were given to Mr Waidhuba without me sharing anything. This is a forged Will, my husband cannot do this,” 80-year-old Ms Ayazika said at her home in Jinja City on July 15.
She added that Mr Waidhuba, who is her first born son, allegedly forged minutes and Will he presented to Court to secure the Letters of Administration, giving him powers to manage the late father’s estate without the consent of her and the six children.
The alleged minutes, dated June 11, 2022, were signed by Mr Daudi Waidhuba Isendabaguzi, as chairperson and Mr Noah Balondemu as secretary.
Ms Ayazika said “by all standards”, the family could not choose Mr Waidhuba as heir and manage the estate because “he has been unfriendly since his childhood”.
She added: “Right from childhood, Waidhuba was harsh to his young ones, I was watching him; therefore, there was no way I would recommend him to be the heir.”
But in a meeting convened to resolve the processing of the Letters of Administration, Mr Waidhuba denied any wrongdoing towards his mother and family, saying “he has always been supportive to his family members every time they had problems”.
“Some of my brothers and sisters had issues of defilement, theft, weddings, in which I was always standing with them, but surprisingly, they are the same people turning against me for no justifiable and clear reasons,” Mr Waidhuba was further quoted in the minutes seen by Monitor.
Mr Daudi Waidhuba Isendabaguzi, who is part of the people executing the purported Will, was quoted saying he invited all the seven people, including the widow, Ms Ayazika, but they boycotted the meeting.
Ms Ayazika, who is a retired Nursing Assistant from Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, said her marriage certificate was allegedly stolen, perhaps to prevent her from obtaining the Letters of Administration.
She also wonders why she was being denied a house she occupied in Luuka District before the birth of Mr Waidhuba, adding that she wants to preside over the appointment of the heir so that she chooses the right person who will help in the equal sharing of the property among all her children.
She said the selection of the heir should be done in her presence because she does not want her children to suffer when she dies.
