Prime
Omukama runs to court over cancelled land titles
The Omukama of Bunyoro Rukirabasaija Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I.
What you need to know:
- The king, through his lawyers James Nangwala and Simon Kasangaki, filed an application seeking court to stay the process of cancelling the land titles until the main suit is heard and disposed of.
- Mr Johnson Bigira, the senior registrar of titles in the Ministry of Lands, who represented the commissioner land registration, informed court that the prayer of the applicants is time barred.
MASINDI. Bunyoro Kitara King Solomon Iguru Gafabusa has sought an interim order of the High Court in Masindi to stay the cancellation of two land titles in the contested Bugoma Forest Reserve in Hoima District by the Uganda Land Commission.
On August 1, Omukama Gafabua acquired a freehold land title for more than two-square mile pieces of land comprising Plot 216 at Buhaguzi and Block 2 at Kyangwali in Hoima District, which he subsequently leased to a sugar company in Hoima on August 6.
However, National Forestry Authority (UFA), the agency mandated to manage and control central forest reserves in the country and Advocate for Natural Resource and Development, a non-government organisation, recently separately dragged the king and the sugar company to court seeking cancellation of the certificate of the titles on grounds that they were issued fraudulently.
Omukama Gafabua was prompted to run to court after a notice from the commissioner land registration was served to him on September 5, inviting them for a public hearing on September 26 to show cause as to why their land titles should not be cancelled and also asking them to surrender the duplicates of their titles for cancellation.
However, the king, through his lawyers James Nangwala and Simon Kasangaki, filed an application seeking court to stay the process of cancelling the land titles until the main suit is heard and disposed of.
Appearing before the assistant, High Court registrar in Masindi, Ms Julie Aciyo, Mr Nangwala argued that cancelling the land title would detach the kingdom from its cultural heritage and the damage cannot be quantified. He also accused the commissioner land registration of not following the legal process of cancelling the land title and asked court to stay the whole process.
However, Mr Johnson Bigira, the senior registrar of titles in the Ministry of Lands, who represented the commissioner land registration, informed court that the prayer of the applicants is time barred. Mr Bigira informed court that the cancellation of the land title for the king of Bunyoro and the sugar company in Bugoma was already effected.
The background
Early this month, the State minister for Lands, Ms Pércis Namuganza, said Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom’s land title in Bugoma Forest Reserve in Hoima District had been cancelled. She said the decision was reached during a meeting chaired by her senior Ms Betty Amongi because the land was gazzeted as a central forest reserve.
