12-year land forgery case against businessman pushed to October
The case came up for hearing before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ritah Neube Kidasa, but the State was unable to proceed after the prosecutor handling the matter, Chief State Attorney Joan Keko, was reported to be attending to her sick child.
Businessman David Ssegulani in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrates’ Court. (Photo By Barbra Kabahumuza)
________________
The trial of businessman David Ssegulani, who is accused of forging land documents and interfering with the estate of a deceased person, has been pushed to October 7, 2026, after the prosecution sought an adjournment.
The case came up for hearing before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ritah Neube Kidasa, but the State was unable to proceed after the prosecutor handling the matter, Chief State Attorney Joan Keko, was reported to be attending to her sick child.
Senior State Attorney Grace Amy told court that the prosecution was ready to proceed with the case and that all the necessary disclosures had been prepared.
Defence lawyer Ambrose Tebyasa said he would send his assistant to collect the disclosures from the prosecution. He, however, asked court to take into consideration the age of the case, which was filed in 2014, saying it was a very old matter.
Tebyasa expressed uncertainty over whether the case could be fixed for hearing at the end of the court vacation.
The court granted the adjournment and fixed October 7, 2026, for prosecution hearing.
Ssegulani, 60, is facing charges of forgery, uttering a false document, obtaining registration by false pretence and intermeddling with the estate of the late Ibrahim Mayanja Sserunjogi.
He denies all the charges.
According to the prosecution, Ssegulani and others still at large allegedly interfered with the estate of Mayanja on September 3, 2007, at the Kampala Lands Office.
The prosecution further alleges that on the same day, Ssegulani fraudulently secured registration of the land under Instrument Number KLA 351928 by falsely claiming that he had purchased the property.
Court documents further indicate that on November 4, 2005, Ssegulani allegedly forged a land sale agreement relating to the same property, purportedly signed by Faith Nabatanzi as the vendor.
He is also accused of knowingly uttering the alleged forged agreement on December 20, 2016, at the High Court Land Division in Kampala, by presenting it to the court registry as a genuine document purportedly signed by Nabatanzi.
The prosecution further alleges that on August 29, 2007, Ssegulani forged a land transfer form for the same property.
He is accused of later uttering the alleged false transfer form to the Registrar of Titles on September 3, 2007, while falsely claiming that it had been signed by Nabatanzi.
Land dispute
The case stems from a land dispute involving the estate of the late Mayanja, who died in 1985 and left behind five children.
The complainant, Laban Katamba, 53, a farmer and resident of Sumba village, Kitemu parish, Nsangi sub-county in Wakiso district, identifies himself as one of Mayanja’s children.
According to Katamba, the Administrator General obtained letters of administration for the deceased’s estate in 1988.
The deceased’s children later applied for letters of administration in 2005 to take over the management of their father’s estate after no objection was raised. The family subsequently planned to subdivide some portions of the land to raise funds to process a certificate of title for the remaining property.
However, the plan was allegedly disrupted by competing claims over the land.
According to Katamba, Faith Nabatanzi allegedly claimed ownership of the entire block, prompting the family to institute a civil suit before the High Court Land Division in Kampala.
The family later encountered further difficulties when they sought to process a certificate of title in 2010.
Katamba states that Ssegulani emerged claiming ownership of Plot 22, while AMG International Uganda Limited allegedly claimed Plot 21.
He said a search conducted at the Lands Office in 2014 revealed that the original block had been subdivided into several smaller plots.
The family allegedly discovered that Ssegulani was in the process of acquiring certificates of title over some of the plots without their knowledge or consent.
Katamba states that the family subsequently reported the matter to Police, leading to investigations into the alleged fraudulent transactions and documents.
The family maintains that previous searches at the Lands Office had shown that the land remained registered in the names of the Administrator General as trustee of the estate.