Court nullifies mortgages on Wakiso land housing Muslim cemetery, School
The court found that although UMSC did not complete registration of the transfer, it had acquired an equitable and beneficial interest in the land.
Court nullifies mortgages on Wakiso land housing Muslim cemetery, School
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The High Court's Commercial Division has nullified mortgages held by Centenary Rural Development Bank and Absa Bank Uganda Limited over land housing Ndejje Quality School, a community mosque and a Muslim cemetery in Kyambala, Wakiso district, after finding that the property had been fraudulently transferred to a company that used it to secure loans.
In a judgment dated October 30, 2026, Justice Anna Mugenyi ruled that the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) was the rightful owner of the land, formerly comprised in Kyadondo Block 271 Plot 61, which measures approximately five hectares (12.35 acres).
The judge found that Habibu Muweesi and Mirembe Executive Group of Companies Limited fraudulently transferred the land into the company’s name using forged transfer documents before sub-dividing it and mortgaging parts of it to the two banks.
The dispute involved two consolidated suits filed by Ndejje Quality Education Services Limited, UMSC, and Absa Bank, with Centenary Bank also filing a counterclaim.
The land comprises a primary school operated by Ndejje Quality Education Services, a community mosque and a Muslim cemetery.
According to court records, the land had originally been donated by the late Ismail Kizito family to the Muslim community. However, when titles were issued, the plot numbers were interchanged, resulting in the Muslim community being registered as owner of Plot 20, while the Kizito family held the title for Plot 61.
In 2010, the High Court Land Division, in a separate case, ordered the parties to exchange the titles to reflect the actual ownership of the land.
Following the judgment, the administrators of the estate of the late Kizito signed transfer forms in favour of UMSC and surrendered the duplicate certificate of title for Plot 61.
The court found that although UMSC did not complete registration of the transfer, it had acquired an equitable and beneficial interest in the land.
On April 20, 2017, UMSC leased 2.5 acres of the land to Ndejje Quality Education Services for 20 years. The company subsequently established a school on the land.
However, the court found that on June 21, 2018, Plot 61 was fraudulently transferred to Mirembe Executive Group of Companies Limited using a document bearing forged signatures of the administrators of the Kizito estate.
Justice Mugenyi relied on evidence from a forensic document examiner attached to the Directorate of Forensic Services of the Uganda Police, who concluded that the signatures on the disputed transfer documents were fundamentally different from the genuine signatures of the administrators.
The court also considered a statement made by Muweesi to police in which he said he had been approached by Sheikh Ismail Ssebaggala, the then Wakiso District Khadi, to purchase the land.
The judge noted that Muweesi’s account to police contradicted the defence filed in court, in which he had claimed that the administrators of the Kizito estate approached him and sold the land to him at sh150m.
Justice Mugenyi consequently declared the transfer fraudulent and void, together with the subsequent entries made in the land register in favour of the company.
The company had subdivided the land and created several plots, including Plots 1170 and 1169, which were used as security for loans from Centenary Bank and Absa Bank respectively.
Centenary Bank had advanced Muweesi a sh300m corporate loan in March 2020, secured by Plot 1170, where the school and mosque stand.
Absa Bank, formerly Barclays Bank of Uganda, had advanced the company a sh230m short-term facility in September 2019, secured by Plot 1169.
Both banks subsequently moved to recover their loans after the borrowers defaulted.
However, the court found that Centenary Bank had failed to establish that it took the mortgage in good faith and without notice of the interests of the occupants.
The judge observed that the bank’s valuer had inspected the property in December 2019 and found an operational school, complete with classrooms, dormitories, staff quarters and a perimeter wall.
The bank’s business banker, Monica Twinomuhwezi, also testified that she visited the property with Muweesi and found the school and a mosque on the land.
However, she did not establish the basis of the school’s occupation or inquire from its management about its rights over the property.
The judge held that the bank ought to have made inquiries from the occupants before accepting the land as security.
She ruled that Centenary Bank’s mortgage over Plot 1170, registered on July 15, 2020, was null and void against the plaintiffs.
On Absa Bank’s mortgage over Plot 1169, the judge found that there was no evidence that the bank participated in or had knowledge of the fraud.
However, the court established that Absa had not produced a registered mortgage deed and that the certificate of title did not contain a mortgage entry.
The court consequently ordered the cancellation of the company’s registration over Plots 1170 and 1169 and directed the Commissioner for Land Registration to register UMSC as the proprietor.
The order also covers any other plots created from Plot 61 that remain registered in the company’s name, but excludes land already transferred to third parties who were not parties to the case.
The banks were further directed to surrender the duplicate certificates of title for the two plots to the Commissioner for Land Registration within 30 days of the judgment.
Justice Mugenyi issued a permanent injunction restraining the defendants, their agents and anyone claiming through them from selling, transferring, mortgaging or otherwise dealing with the two plots or interfering with the plaintiffs’ possession.
The court also awarded sh40m in general damages to UMSC and sh30m to Ndejje Quality Education Services, payable jointly and severally by Muweesi and Mirembe Executive Group of Companies Limited, with interest at 8% per annum.
Although the court cancelled the mortgages, it ruled that the borrowers remained liable to repay the money advanced by the banks.
Centenary Bank had sought to recover sh350.8m, but the court relied on the outstanding account balance and entered judgment for sh453.3m as at February 14, 2023.
The amount is payable jointly and severally by Muweesi and Mirembe Executive Group of Companies Limited, with interest at 21% per annum on the principal sum of sh346m from February 14, 2023, until payment in full.
Absa Bank was also awarded sh414.3m, being the outstanding loan balance, with interest at 21.75% per annum on the principal sum of sh230m from May 20, 2025, until payment in full.
The judge further lifted the corporate veil of Mirembe Executive Group of Companies Limited, making Muweesi personally liable alongside the company for the debt owed to Absa Bank.
She found that the company had been used as a vehicle through which Muweesi procured registration of the land using forged documents and subsequently obtained credit from the banks.
The plaintiffs were awarded costs of the suit against Muweesi, Mirembe Executive Group of Companies Limited and Centenary Bank.
Absa Bank and the plaintiffs were each ordered to bear their own costs, while both banks were awarded costs of their respective counterclaims against Muweesi and the company.
The court declined to award the banks additional general and punitive damages.