Court rules businessman Kiconco is lawful owner of Lusanja land

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Land Division of High Court has ruled that businessman Medard Kiconco is the lawful owner of Lusanja land.

Court also ordered the squatters who were evicted from the land on Lusanja located on the Mpererwe-Kiteezi road to vacate it in 30 days.

Justice Tadeo Asiimwe ruled that the land was bought by Kiconco in 2016 from the Administrator Paul Katabazi Bitarabeho as opposed to the 148 other claimants who bought it from his sister Chrispa Bitarabeho, who had no right to sell the land.

Kiconco, the proprietor of Lexman Industries Limited sued Kampala Capital City Authority, Rosemary Sseninde, the State Minister for Primary Education also woman Member of Parliament for Wakiso, State Minister for Lands, Persis Namuganza and 148 other respondents.

Namuganza was faulted for having exceeded her powers as the State Minister for lands by directing people to continue occupying the land while Sseninde was sued for causing financial loss by stopping Kiconco from erecting a factory at his land.

KCCA, on the other hand, was faulted for failing to demolish the property which was constructed on Kiconco’s land by the squatters. In the same application, Kiconco also sued the Attorney General seeking to be compensated with 500 million shillings arguing that government had unlawfully settled people on his land.

In the Judgment read on Friday by Flavia Nabakooza, the Court Registrar, it was noted that there was no evidence to show that Namuganza and Sseninde incited people to stay on Kiconco’s land.

KCCA was also exonerated based on the testimony of the KCCA Deputy Director in Charge of Physical planning Mark Bwambale. Bwambale told court that KCCA had not demolished the structures having heard that the issues were already in court.

However, court directed KCCA to demarcate the borders of Wakiso and Kampala to avoid future confusion having found that Kiconco’s land is in Ssekanyonyi Mpererwe and not in Lusanja, Wakiso District.

Court, however, declined to give Kiconco the award of 500 million shillings he sought from the Attorney General arguing that this was not a case to do with compulsory land acquisition by the government.

After the ruling, one of the squatters Juma Katende fainted. Other squatters who gathered at court vowed to stay on the land.

In October 2018, people of Lusanja were evicted unlawfully after the Nabweru Chief Magistrate, Esther Rebecca Nasambu granted an order to Kiconco which led to the demolition of property in Lusanja as opposed to Ssekanyonyi.

More than 200 homesteads and 540 people were evicted from the land measuring 9.6 acres.

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