Museveni to meet families involved in 640-acre land wrangle in Kiruhura
Left: One of the houses belonging to the family of the late Bishop Kosiya Shalita of East Ankole (inset). Right: The same
house was reportedly destroyed in 2022. PHOTOS/COURTESY OF BISHOP SHALITA FAMILY
What you need to know:
- Members of the Shalita family who won eight court cases wondered why the President would base on statements of a court clerk, they claim did not handle their case, to stop the court directives.
- Maj Muhoozi in 2022 filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal under Reference: (Miscellaneous Application No 354 of 2022), which sought to reverse the old verdict of the High Court that had led to eviction of his family in 1997. The Bishop Shalita family also won this case.
President Museveni plans to meet the families of the former Bishop of East Ankole, Kosiya Shalita and Christopher Kajundira, who have been embroiled in a three decade long land dispute.
The two families are fighting over the ownership of land measuring more than 640 acres located in Kikatsi Sub-county, Nyabushozi County, in Kiruhura District.
What started as a simple boundary conflict between the late Shalita and Kajundira in 1969 has since escalated to a land wrangle that has dragged on for decades, claimed lives, properties and displacements.
In a September 22 letter to Mr Norbert Mao, the Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Mr Museveni said he wants to meet the two families to resolve the conflict.
He was responding to Mr Mao’s August 22 letter on the matter.
“I had directed that the Shalitas be assisted as you pointed out [in your August 22 letter to me,] and those that had been disturbing them, should be punished. However, later on, I was shocked to learn that those legal proceedings of the High Court [in favour of Bishop Shalita], had been corrupted. I myself talked to the clerk that had handled that land in 1965 who told me a different story,” the letter copied to the two conflicting families reads in part.
It added: “That is why I had to call to halt the process of enabling the Shalitas to control the land. I intend to meet the two groups and use the alternative justice approach to do justice, finally.”
Mr Mao had in his letter wondered why the President’s November 8, 2023, directive where he had ordered the then Inspector General of Police Okoth Ochola to evict Kajundira’s family from the said land, had been violated.
“Based on the clear pronouncements of the court that the land in question belongs to the Shalita Family, you issued clear directives that the trespassers should be evicted, that the police and army officers that acted forcefully in contempt of court should be brought to book and disciplined and prosecuted, that the title that was wrongfully canceled should be reinstated and that the Lands officers involved should be subjected to disciplinary proceedings,” read part of Minister Mao’s letter.
It added: “To date these directives you issued, which were based on extensive consultations, investigations and the input of the Attorney General, have not been implemented. The Shalita family is concerned that the Ugandan State is unable or unwilling to enforce a long-standing court decision and instead looks on as members of our security forces superintend over contempt of court.”
Photo combo: President Museveni (L) and Democratic Party president general Nobert Mao (R).
Members of the Shalita family who won eight court cases wondered why the President would base on statements of a court clerk, they claim did not handle their case, to stop the court directives.
“We complained to the President that one of his family members (names withheld), is the one stealing our land and we know he is the one who is parading the said court clerk to mislead him (President) into overturning court judgments,” Mr Agaba (full name withheld on request for personal security reasons], a member of the Shalita family, said.
“We shall never accept alternatives other than the justice pronounced in the 8 court decisions. Those people being paraded were never involved when our grandfather Bishop Shalita was acquiring his land in 1965. We will fight on using the court process,” he added.
In March 2022, Kajundira’s family led by Maj Muhoozi Godfrey Kajundira, reportedly backed by security forces, invaded the land and allegedly destroyed all properties belonging to Bishop Shalita’s family.
This publication has seen different court rulings including civil suit 37 of 1987, and 76 of 1990, miscellaneous application 35 of 1996, civil suit 002 of 1996, 004 of 2022 and miscellaneous application 172 of 2022 which were all in favour of Bishop Shalita’s family.
Mbarara High Court Judge Lady Justice Joyce Kavuma in her October 13 ruling of the miscellaneous application 172 of 2022 ordered Maj Gen Kajundira and Mr Charles Mutungi, the administrator of the estate of the late Christopher Kajundira to evacuate the land and also pay all the damages amounting to Shs10m.
Maj Muhoozi in 2022 filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal under Reference: (Miscellaneous Application No 354 of 2022), which sought to reverse the old verdict of the High Court that had led to eviction of his family in 1997. The Bishop Shalita family also won this case.
Efforts to get a comment from Maj Kajundira were futile because his known phone numbers were off by press time.
Mr Agaba said his family has written several letters to the President, notifying him about one of his family members who is behind the alleged stealing of their land but in vain.
This publication has seen the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka’s July 17 letter to the Lands minister where he states that the court rulings must be respected. Mr Kiwanuka added that title deeds that the ministry had issued to the Kajundira family must be cancelled.
“The dispute relating to the ownership of the land was finally determined in Mbarara Civil Appeal No. 76 of 1990. That decision was confirmed by three other court decisions, including High Court Application No. 02 of 1996 that confirmed that the evidence and the law clearly indicated that the land belongs to Bishop Shalita," the July 17 letter reads in part.
Mr Kiwanuka in an August 5, 2022, letter to the IGP Ochola called for the eviction of the Kajundira family from the said land.
