Family loses land dispute in court, runs to RDC

A family in Sembabule District that lost their claim for a piece of land in court has gone to local leaders and the Resident District Commission for intervention.

Local leaders had accused former district chairperson , Emmanuel Ssekimpi, of unlawfully acquiring land belonging to the family of the late Gabudire Kasule during his leadership tenure in the 90s.

Mr Ssekimpi, 77, was dragged to the LC III court that ruled in favour of his accusers, prompting him to appeal against its ruling.

In an appeal case filed before the Chief Magistrates Court in Sembabule against Eria Bazibumbuzi and Lawrence Kasule, both beneficiaries of the late Gabriel Kasule, Mr Ssekimpi argued that the LCIII court had no jurisdiction either pecuniary or territorial to entertain the matter.

Chief Magistrate Aloysius Natwijuka ruled that the matter was beyond the jurisdiction of the LCIII court as it only handles appeals from the lower court.

“Bearing in mind that LCIII courts always as per the Local Council Courts Act only has appellate powers but in the instant case, this was the first court of instance which as well contravene Section 11 of the Local Council Courts Act,” Natwijuka ruled

The chief magistrate ruled that evidence in the LCIII court judgement indicated that Ssekimpi had acquired a land title in the year 2000, and therefore more than the 12 years as stipulated in the Limitation Act.

The court ruled that the matter was therefore time barred since the other party did not prove the fraud and within which period they got knowledge about it.

The earlier judgement by the LCIII court was consequently trashed.

However, dissatisfied with the ruling of the court, the family of the late Kasule has since thought the intervention of the RDC.

The family also involved other Local Council leaders, noting that efforts to have him attend village meetings to explain himself about the said land have proved futile.

Deputy RDC Faizal Sseruwagi stated that if Ssekimpi is found guilty of illegally acquiring the land, he would face legal action.

"We will not tolerate any form of land grabbing in this district. If the title was obtained through fraudulent means, it will be revoked, and the rightful owners will be compensated," Sseruwagi said.

Earlier, Ssekimpi told the Nile Post that the allegations are not correct.

He pointed fingers at the deputy RDC of Sembabule whom he accused of orchestrating the land dispute.

Ssekimpi accused Sseruwagi of having personal interests in the case, but declined to provide further details.

Ssekimpi’s son Gonzaga Kironde Ssekandi, a lawyer who has been representing his family in the dispute laughed off the claims of land grabbing.

“Those people took my dad to the LC 3 court in Mabindo and it decided the case exparte against my dad. We appealed the same in Chief Magistrates Court in Sembabule, and we won the case. They have instead gone to the RDC. My father is an elderly senior citizen whose reputation they are destroying. He is 77 years old and owns over 2 square miles of land in Sembabule District alone, he cannot steal nine acres of land,” Kironde said.

The Nile Post had earlier reported the same allegations but without the background related to the case of law, which we have since learnt misrepresented the facts of the matter.