Court restrains KCCA from leasing contested Old Taxi Park

KAMPALA - The High Court has issued an order restraining Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and businessman Abdul Bakaine Kasai from tampering with the contested Old Taxi Park on Ben Kiwanuka Street in the city centre. 

This was after businessman Haji Ahmed Zziwa secured an order stopping KCCA and Kasai, the proprietor of Kanaba Agencies Limited, from mortgaging, sub-leasing or subdividing the land comprised in Plot 43, Ben Kiwanuka Street, measuring 43 decimals. 

Zziwa, who secured a lease for the land at sh1.3b from KCCA’s predecessor — the Kampala City Council — has been battling with KCCA and Kasai over the land for the last 20 years. 

At the time Zziwa secured the lease in 2005, documents show that council authorities faced a court case filed by an Indian, Alnasir Gulamuhussein Virani, who claimed ownership of part of the land. 

The order restraining KCCA and Kanaba Agencies from interfering with the land was first issued in March by Justice Bernard Namanya, but it was ignored and contested. 

However, in a letter dated October 8, 2025, the deputy registrar of the High Court’s Land Division clarified that the order reinstating Zziwa as the lease owner was valid and authentic. 

“A temporary injunction is issued preserving the land comprised in leasehold register volume 3347 Folio 2 Plot 43, Ben Kiwanuka Street, Kampala city,” the order states. 

The court further restrained KCCA and Kanaba Agencies from disposing of, mortgaging, leasing, subleasing, transferring or dealing with the land until the determination of the main case. 

The commissioner for land registration was also ordered to stop any dealings on the land and place a caveat on it.

Order implementation 

When he got the court order, Zziwa said he approached the Kampala deputy resident city commissioner (RCC) in charge of the central division, Ali Shafiq Nsubuga, to help him implement it. 

However, Zziwa said Nsubuga has not helped him to date. According to documents seen by New Vision, Nsubuga instead wrote to the court on August 25, seeking to verify the authenticity of the order and who should be maintained on the land. 

According to Zziwa, Minister for Kampala, Hajjati Minsa Kabanda wrote to KCCA ordering them to renew Kanaba's lease even after knowing all the facts and receiving all correspondence about the said land.

"I have been paying ground rent and property rate since 2005. I wonder why the Minister gave such an order that deprives me of my rightful ownership of the land," Zziwa added.

Despite the court informing Nsubuga that the land belongs to Zziwa, the businessman said the deputy RCC did not enforce the directive. 

This prompted Zziwa to seek help from the secretary to the Office of the President, Haji Yunus Kakande, who directed that the court order be enforced. 

When contacted, Nsubuga denied refusing to uphold the court order, saying he ordered the Police commander at the Central Police Station, Martin Okoyo, to implement it. 

“We found the land in question being used by Kasai, and he was in charge of it. “I think the judge should have visited the locus before issuing the order because Zziwa is not the one in possession of the land,” Nsubuga said.

Background 

Haji Ahmed Zziwa said Indian landowner Alnasir Gulamuhussein Virani wanted sh630m from Kampala City Council to vacate the land, but the then mayor, John Ssebaana Kizito, sought a private partnership as they did not have money. 

The late Ssebaana approached Kasai to buy the land. “I had met Kasai in 2003 through brokers. At the time, he wanted to sell his building to me on Nabugabo Road, but we failed to agree on an amount. Afterwards, he came back to me and said: ‘We are both Muslims,’ he would wish to give me a deal,” Zziwa said. 

Zziwa said Kasai told him KCCA had wanted to sell land to him, but he did not have money. 

“He (Kasai) told me KCCA wanted sh1.1b, but he also needed sh200m for his brokerage deal, and it would total to sh1.3b,” Zziwa narrated. 

“I agreed to the deal and I trusted him, thinking he would stick to his word. So, I started making payments via his account in the name of Kanaba Agencies. The agreement was that I would transfer money from my account to his, and in a few days, we had cleared Virani.” 

After all the payments, Zziwa said KCCA issued an offer for the land. 

“Kasai brought the offer to me, but later, he told me KCCA wanted the offer to rectify something. I handed it to him, but on returning it, he had sub-divided the land. He created two plots: Plot 43, measuring 25 decimals, which is known as Kajja now, and Plot 3941, measuring 18 decimals, which is Park Enkadde Mall now,” Zziwa said. 

Zziwa was given powers of attorney for Plot 43, while Kasai took Plot 3941, triggering the dispute.