Businessman Medard Kiconco has won the Lusanja land case.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, High Court Judge Tadeo Asiimwe ruled that Kiconco is the rightful owner of the disputed land.
The 3.89-acre piece of land is part of the 85 acres that the late Paul Katabazi Bitarabeho bought in 1978 from the late Namasole Bagalaayeze Lunkuse, the mother of fallen Buganda King Daniel Mwanga.
Bitarabeho’s descendants are said to have sold part of the land to Kiconco, who later evicted some of the tenants from it.
Kiconco maintains he bought the land comprised on block 206, plot 671 at Mpererwe in Kampala while the residents say their land is on block 198, Folio 13 in Wakiso district.
The businessman says that by the time he bought the land from Bitarabeho’s descendants in 2013, there were only 17 squatters, whom he says he compensated.
In October 2018, Kiconco, with the help of armed police and bailiffs violently demolished 350 houses in the piece of land he claimed to own, leaving over 550 people homeless.
In December, court overturned the eviction order thus declaring it illegal.
Solomon Muyita, the Judiciary spokesperson said the court order that was delivered by Nabweru Chief Magistrate Esther Nasambu was meant for the land in Ssekanyonyi zone, Mpererwe but not Lusanja.
“After the order, the magistrate realised that she had done a mistake and she apologised. Apology in this country is part of our culture. She also stated in her explanation to our supervisor that part of what was demolished in Lusanja was not the area in her judgment.”
“The matter she handled was about Ssekanyonyi zone in Mpererwe not Lusanja. Now these two areas are just neighbouring each other,” he said.
After the court decision, Kiconco filed a case against 17 original squatters on the land that he claims to have compensated.
He sued them alongside Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Lands Minister Persis Namuganza and Primary Education State Minister Rosemary Seninde, who he accuses of inciting squatters.
In February 2019, High Court through its registrar Samuel Emokor allowed the businessman to proceed with the case.
“I note that the process server made several attempts to reach the defendants in vain. I, therefore order for substituted service to be done within 10 days,” said Emokor as quoted by New Vision, a local daily.
A substituted service is a provision of legal papers to someone when he/she is unable to be served personally. It is usually done through advertising in media.
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