Businessman charged over meddling with deceased’s Estate

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A 60-year-old businessman has been charged before the Kampala city-based Buganda Road Chief Magistrates' Court with multiple offences, including forgery, intermeddling with a deceased person’s estate, uttering a false document and obtaining registration by false pretence.

David Ssegulani appeared before Chief Magistrate Ritah Neube Kidasa, but denied all the charges.

The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Joan Keko, informed the court that investigations into the matter are complete and that the state is ready to proceed with the trial and disclose evidence to the defence.

In response, the Chief Magistrate directed the prosecution to furnish the defence team with all necessary documents to enable adequate trial preparation. The case was adjourned to April 8 for hearing.

Allegations

According to the prosecution, Ssegulani and others still at large allegedly intermeddled with the estate of the late Ibrahim Mayanja Sserunjogi on September 3, 2007, at the Kampala Lands Office.

He is accused of fraudulently procuring a certificate of title for land comprised in Busiro Block 358, Plots 22 and 23 at Sumba, without lawful authority or consent from the Administrator General.

It is further alleged that on the same date, Ssegulani wilfully secured registration on the certificate of title under Instrument Number KLA 351928 by falsely claiming that he had purchased the land.

Court documents indicate that on November 4, 2005, in Kampala district, Ssegulani allegedly forged a land sale agreement for the same property, purporting that it had been signed by Faith Nabatanzi as vendor.

Prosecution also alleges that on December 20, 2016, at the Land Division of the High Court in Kampala, he knowingly uttered the alleged false land sale agreement, presenting it to the registry as a genuine document purportedly signed by the late Nabatanzi.

Additionally, on August 29, 2007, Ssegulani is accused of forging a land transfer form for the same property and later, on September 3, 2007, uttering the said transfer form to the Registrar of Titles while falsely claiming it had been signed by the late Nabatanzi.

Background

Complainant Laban Katamba, 53, a farmer and resident of Sumba Village in Kitemu Parish, Nsangi sub-county, Wakiso district, identifies himself as a son of the late Ibrahim Mayanja, who died in 1985, leaving five children.

Katamba states that their father left behind land located at Busiro Block 358, Plot 14, measuring approximately 351.78 acres in Nsangi, where he resided and was buried.

He explained that in 1988, the Administrator General obtained letters of administration for the estate. In 2005, the deceased’s children successfully applied for letters of administration to manage their father’s estate after no objection was raised.

The family later sought to subdivide portions of the land to raise funds for processing a land title for the remaining property. However, their plans were disrupted when the late Nabatanzi allegedly claimed ownership of the entire block, prompting the family to file a civil suit at the Land Division of the High Court.

Katamba further stated that in 2010, their application for a certificate of title was frustrated by competing claims from Ssegulani, who allegedly claimed ownership of Plot 22, and AMG International Uganda Limited, which claimed Plot 21.

He said that a 2014 search at the Lands Office revealed that the entire block had been subdivided into smaller plots, allegedly by Ssegulani, who was in the process of acquiring certificates of title without the family’s knowledge.

The family reported the matter to Police for investigation, maintaining that earlier searches had indicated the land was still registered in the names of the Administrator General.