Ms Norah Nabagesera, the 84-year-old widow, whose land has been fenced off as part of renovations for Namboole stadium. PHOTO/MICHAEL AGABA
An 84-year-old widow, whose land has been fenced off as part of renovations for Namboole stadium, has cried foul over delayed compensation by the government.
Norah Nabagesera says despite the High Court in 1997 ordering the government to vacate her land measuring 16 acres and compensate her Shs22m for occupying it illegally, nothing has been done.
Nabagesera, who says she has moved from office to office, seeking to be paid her money in vain, says she has now been forced to relocate to Katosi, Mukono, where she lives with a relative in abject poverty as her life wastes away.
“I want money to go for medication in India. Money from this compensation is my only hope. Is the government waiting for me to first die?” she wonders.
The land in question is Kyadondo Block 234, Plot 263 located at Kirinya, Bweyogerere. The land is now valued at more than Shs32b billion at an average of Shs2 billion per acre and the family wants the government to pay them this money if it wants to permanently take it.
According to court documents seen by the Daily Monitor, Nabagesera's late husband Kitaka Krespo leased the contested land to Granite Quarries Limited for 49 years in 1969.
When the lease expired, the quarry company vacated the land.
Following reports that the land could have been grabbed, Nabagesera's family in 2010 conducted a title search at the Ministry of Lands.
They were shocked to find that the land title had been transferred into the names of the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) without the family’s knowledge and subsequently leased to various parties, including Mandela National Stadium Ltd, Pioneer Bus Company and the Ministry of Lands.
Nabagesera and her family sued ULC and the other parties involved in what they described as a fraudulent land acquisition.
In August 2017, ULC failed to prove ownership of the land and the High Court ruled that it fraudulently transferred Nabagesera's land title to its name.
The court ordered the Commission to pay a fine of Shs22 million to the complainant and transfer the land title back into Nabagesera's name as the administrator.
"The first Defendant (Registrar of Titles Wakiso ) is directed to cancel the second Defendant's registration as the proprietor of the suit land comprised in Kyadondo Block 234 Plot 263, Land at Kilinya Bweyogerere," court ruled.
It added: "The first Defendant is directed to reinstate the Administrators of the estate of the late Keresipo Kitaka, James Nsubuga (son), and Nora Nabagesera, as the rightful proprietors of the suit land."
However, the family says this has not been honoured and the land has since been fenced off by the UPDF Engineering Brigade as part of renovations of Namboole stadium. Nabagesera says efforts to reach out to the Attorney General and other departments responsible for granting the compensation have been futile.
When contacted, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka acknowledged that he was aware of the matter but said they have since appealed the court ruling.
“That matter is still in court, she won a case, the decision we are appealing against. The matter is in court and we are waiting for the hearing,” he said without offering more details.
But Ms Justine Nassuna, a daughter of Nabagesera, accused the Attorney General of playing politics over the issue.
We find it irregular by the government and AG to say an appeal was made yet the court made a decree to reinstate Norah and James as administrators in 2017, and an appeal was made in 2023. That’s way past appeal time. We find it as a delaying tactic,” she said.
“As a family, we are tired of moving to courts, the government should either pay us or let us sell our land, because we possess our land title,” she added.
