Will the High Court in Mukono finally see off one of the town’s longest land feud amongst a divided family?
A famous Kitooke family in Mukono township has been having land wrangles for over a decade now and because of this, the family members are regularly visitors at the Mukono police stations, Mukono courts, Office of the RDC, Lands office and even the office of the Administrator General in Kampala.
The Family had a big estate that only greedy and selfish family members have benefited from, leaving the rest of family members without a big voice in the cold.
Some family members are hiding behind their very elderly mother who they manipulate to allow them sell land in the pretext they care for her more than anyone else.
The family members who have been cheated in the sharing of the family estate have been seeking help from different offices for years now but all in vain.
Recently, the High Court in Mukono intervened and sought to settle the longstanding conflict involving injustice and unfair sharing of the family estate, as well as an impending payment from the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) who are going to utilise part of the land for the Jinja Kampala Express highway, in the areas of Nnangwa village.
There is a stand off over who should take the money UNRA has compensated for the land, as some grandchildren who shared nothing from the main estate accuse their uncle, aunt and grandmother of plotting to once again take all the compensated funds.
Most family members are of the opinion that the land be subdivided (each beneficiary was to be allocated land and a title) however this was never effected and most members lost their land because some people in the family have always managed to gateway with grabbing what rightfully belonged to other family members with the support of their aging matriarch.
According to the will left by the late estate owner (who was the father of the now fighting children and grandchildren), the senior Kitooke, the late had said that the estate should be divided equally amongst all the beneficiaries something the now heir Kaaya Paul Kitooke doesn’t agree with.
Kaaya who has sold off most of the estate with the help of one of his sisters, two grandsons, Ridar Hotel Mukono-Seeta owner Okware John Bosco and other offices at his beck and call, still wants a lion’s share of the UNRA funds.
This has divided the family further. The disgruntled family members have already told him that he lost their trust after his selfish moves that left the rest of the members’ landless but showed no remorse or empathy.
With the matter at hand over the money received from Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) as compensation, Kaaya is reportedly colluding some officials in the offices in charge of the case to once again cheat the rest of the family members. Kaaya who is hiding behind an ill mother, says he needs half of the money to take care of his sick mother. The rest of the family say he is conflicted and not trustable. With the stallment on who should receive the UNRA money, after the family seems to disagree on who’s trustworthy to handle the funds in the family, the ball has fallen in the hands of the mediating judge who has the last say on the case.
Unfortunately, Kaaya is more than willing to share the spoils of the land and UNRA monies with strangers surrounding him in this case than his very own family, according to disgruntled family members.
The ball is now in the hands of a judge who is already showing bias in the case.
Family members however are complaining that the judge might have made up his mind already.
Initially the UNRA compensation amount was supposed to be shared amongst all beneficiaries of the estate, the existing ones and the deceased were to be represented by their children.
The court ruling is on this Monday 4th April 2022 at 2pm, Mukono High Court near Municipal council offices.
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