By The Insight Post Uganda
Mukono-Uganda
Primah Tumwebaze, the Assistant Private Secretary to President Yoweri Museveni in Charge of the Land Department, has been accused of connivance to grab 7acres of land in Mbeya Island, Mpunge sub-county in Mukono district.
She is also on the spot for disregarding Mukono Magistrates court’s decision in the matter regarding the controversial land matter with intent to evict Jackson Twinamasiko, a bonafide land owner.
On March 27th of this year, Tumwebaze summoned Twinamasiko on allegations of evicting and demolishing properties belonging to one Richard Kabonge. The summons included information that Kabonge had purchased around 23.3 acres of land from Thomas Kaddu in 2020, after conducting due diligence and concluding that he was the rightful owner since 2001.
The letter further indicated that Twinamasiko had pulled down the chain link fence surrounding Kabonge’s land, demolished his buildings, and made several attempts to arrest him.
Additionally, Tumwbaze accused Twinamasiko of threatening Kabonge and forcing him to abandon his projects claiming that he (Twinamasiko) had planted trees on Kabonge’s land without his permission.
Following the escalation of the dispute, a mediation meeting was set to take place at the Land Department offices in Nakasero, Lumumba Avenue, on April 3, 2023 to resolve the grievances.
However, Kabonge (complainant) did not attend the mitigation meeting but he was represented by Elidad Basheija, who is a resident of Mbeya island in Mpunge sub-county in Mukono district, where the land in question is located.
The state house officials then asked both parties to provide proof of ownership for the disputed land but they disregarded the land title, buying agreement, consent from the landlord and court documents submitted by Twinamasiko’s lawyer including an arrest warrant for kabonge.
The meeting concluded in favour of Kabonge, who only presented a complaint letter, something that the aggrieved party called connivance to take his land.
Twinamasiko claims the state house officials threatened to evict him from the land using state house soldiers and give it back to Kabonge, who is already on the police wanted list for allegedly forging documents related to the same land.
Court Decision
Tadeo Muinda, the Mukono Grade 1 Magistrate, issued a warrant of arrest for Kabonge and his associates, Godfrey Kayizzi and Aisha Namukasa, on February 7, 2021, for allegedly forging consent form from the landowner, Hasifah Namutebi, to authorize a land transaction.
This website has seen the same consent form, which was signed on February 2, 2020. However, the landlord’s name indicated on the form was originally Aisha Namukasa, which was later crossed out and replaced with Hasifah Namutebi, while the prior name was still maintained at the bottom.
During court proceedings, Namutebi denied signing the consent form with her thumbprint, and it was discovered by experts that Kabonge had placed his own print on the form.
Joachim Ssendi, the LCI Chairperson of Lweza Village, claims that Kaddu, who allegedly sold the land to Kabonge, was only authorized to use the land for food production and not for sale. He challenges Kaddu to produce a single document proving that he purchased the land.
The disputed land is located in Kyaggwe on block 494, plots 17 and 18, which were previously part of Buikwe district. The copy of the land title seen by this website shows that the land was previously owned by Namutebi, then changed to the name of Simon Nsubuga in October 2020, and finally to Jackson Twinamasiko in December 2020.
The matter surrounding the land dispute involving Twinamasiko and Kabonge resurfaced after a disagreement between Twinamasiko and Major Mark Wanyama over land on the same island.
In an attempt to justify his earlier petition that Twinamasiko was the land grabber, Wanyama convinced Kabonge to petition the state house land department.
The dispute over the land on Mbeya Island dates back to September 2019 when a group of land brokers identified seven acres of land originally owned by Francis Tyaba, now based in the United States, but administratively controlled by Joyce Lutaaya who had been granted powers of attorney in 2008.
Twinamatsiko claims that when the representatives arrived, they discovered that the land they were interested in was part of a larger plot measuring 23.9 acres (9.7 hectares), of which 16 acres had already been sold to Major Mark Wanyama, leaving only 7 acres available for purchase.
To verify that there were no legal complications and that the powers of attorney claimed by Joyce Lutaaya were valid, Twinamatsiko conducted a search of the land’s ownership records at the Ministry of Lands.
Following the agreement with the landowners, Twinamatsiko was obligated to pay a commitment fee of Ugx20 million as part of the total Ugx70 million price, which he did on November 6, 2019 via his DFCU bank account. He then paid the remaining balance of Ugx50 million before the end of the same month, specifically on November 20, 2019.
As per Twinamatsiko’s account, his lawyer was supposed to prepare a sales agreement with Joyce Lutaaya and the other land sellers at a later time.
-‘However, when Wanyama, who had purchased the first 16 acres of land, found out that Twinamatsiko had bought the remaining 7 acres of land, he was unhappy about having a neighbour from Western Uganda and allegedly contacted the sellers to stop the deal.
Sources close to both parties, Joyce Lutaaya and Mark Wanyama, have disclosed that Lutaaya agreed to pay Twinamatsiko Ugx 70 million plus an additional Ugx 15 million per acre for the remaining 7 acres that had already been paid for by Twinamatsiko.
On November 24th, 2019, Lutaaya refunded the sum of Ugx 70 million to Twinamatsiko’s DFCU account through her Nono Boutique. However, Twinamatsiko rejected the refund and took the matter to court.
Twinamatsiko maintained that the allegations made by the other party were baseless and not supported by law, stating, “I did not lend Joyce money that she could later pay back. Rather, I had purchased the land.”
Consequently, on November 27th, 2019, the court issued a temporary injunction against Joyce Lutaaya to prevent the sale of the land until the main case on Plot 9, Block 494, Kyaggwe, was resolved. Twinamatsiko requested the court to seize the unlawfully deposited Ugx70 million from his account to cover any possible legal consequences, and a caveat was placed on the land.
Three months later, another group of brokers approached Twinamatsiko, offering to sell the same land, this time with a land title in the name of Mark Wanyama, who was accused of being involved in the land grab.
Instead of being passive, Twinamatsiko took immediate action and presented relevant documentation to the Zonal Lands office, which resulted in the revocation of the brokers’ fraudulent land titles.
The court hearing revealed that Major Wanyama had an agreement dated April 6th, 2019, which showed that he had purchased 16 acres of land.
However, it was also discovered that he had two additional forged agreements claiming that he had purchased 7 acres of land on November 19, 2019, after Twinamatsiko had already paid a commitment fee of Ugx20 million.
Besides, another agreement indicated that Wanyama had purchased 25 acres of land on April 6, 2019, which means that he now has 48 acres of land in a place where only 23.9 acres exist.
To protect himself from Wanyama’s aggression, Twinamatsiko wrote a letter to the Chief of Defense Forces on October 31, 2022, requesting intervention in the attacks by Major Wanyama.
He took prompt action by visiting the Zonal Lands office with the appropriate documentation, resulting in the invalidation of the brokers’ fraudulent land title. During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Maj. Wanyama had a contract dated April 6th, 2019, indicating that he had purchased 16 acres of land.
However, the same court discovered that the officer had two additional contracts, both of which were forged, indicating that Wanyama had also bought 7 acres of land on November 19, 2019, after Twinamatsiko had paid a commitment fee of Ugx20 million.
Another agreement indicated that Wanyama had purchased 25 acres of land on April 6, 2019, indicating that he now owns 48 acres in an area where only 23.9 acres exist.
To protect himself from the brutality that Wanyama had instigated, Twinamatsiko wrote to the Chief of Defense Forces on October 31st, 2022, seeking intervention into the attacks. He also wrote to Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa on the same day but received no response from either office.
On November 9th, 2022, Twinamatsiko wrote to the Head of Legal, State House Anti-Corruption Unit, and on November 25th, 2022, he wrote to the Inspector General of Police on the same issue, but he is yet to receive a response.
On March 3rd, 2023, he wrote to the Mukono RDC Fatumah Ndisaba and the Kampala Metropolitan East Police, but still, no response was given.
Additionally, he wrote more letters on March 9th, 2023, to the President of the Republic of Uganda through the State House Land Department. On the same date, he also wrote to the Minister of Defense, and none of his letters received a response.
On March 16th, 2023, he wrote to the Minister of Security and on March 27th, 2023, he wrote to both the Minister and Minister of State for Lands, Judith Nabakooba and Sam Mayanja, respectively. Surprisingly, when he wrote to the State House Land Desk on March 27th, 2023, Primah Tumwebaze summoned Twinamatsiko and others, raising questions about the importance of his letters.
Kabonge, who works closely with Major Wanyama to undermine Twinamatsiko, has repeatedly stated that they have failed on the legal front and will now turn to all available alternatives, including violence, to take over the land. Wanyama echoed the same sentiments after experiencing setbacks in the legal process.
Although the army’s Deputy Spokesperson, Deo Akiki, denied allegations that Wanyama is not a UPDF officer, our investigation revealed that he is indeed a serving UPDF officer.
In May 2017, he was summoned before a court-martial for his involvement in a Ugx 76 billion fraud scandal. Wanyama worked in the UPDF Audit and Finance Department, and Lt Arthur Ruhinda, who was attached to the army’s Engineering Brigade, was accused of soliciting a bribe worth Ugx7b with threats that one Mubiru would lose his contracts if he did not comply with their demands.
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