Court okays land dealer Kamoga’s trial in absentia
Kamoga, also the proprietor of Kamoga Property Consultants, is accused of using forged land transfer forms and a lawyer’s stamp to unlawfully transfer ownership of more than 200 acres of land belonging to businessman Peter Bibangamba.
Court okays land dealer Kamoga’s trial in absentia
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After jumping bail and failing to appear in court following his release on bail in 2023, the Entebbe Chief Magistrates Court has ordered that the trial of land dealer Muhammad Kamoga proceed in his absence.
Kamoga, also the proprietor of Kamoga Property Consultants, is accused of using forged land transfer forms and a lawyer’s stamp to unlawfully transfer ownership of more than 200 acres of land belonging to businessman Peter Bibangamba.
The 200-acre piece of land in question is comprised in Busiro Block 435 at Bukaaya, Katabi town council, Wakiso district.
Senior Magistrate Edgar Tusiime Tibayeita made the directive in a ruling delivered on July 16, 2026.
The ruling followed an application by the prosecution asking the court to allow the trial to proceed in Kamoga’s absence after he allegedly jumped bail.
“The court finds that the accused’s refusal to appear in court both prior to and after the issuance of a warrant of his arrest, during which period his sureties paid their court bonds after claiming inability to trace him, the accused has waived his right to be present at the trial.
The court accordingly grants the application and hereby orders that the proceedings shall proceed in the accused’s absence until such time as he is apprehended or voluntarily appears before this court,” Tibayeita ruled.
Justifying his ruling, Tibayeita said the interests of justice required that the trial proceed in Kamoga’s absence after he allegedly jumped bail.
In November 2023, the High Court stayed Kamoga’s trial, citing the ongoing civil case as a potential conflict. The court held that conducting the criminal trial before resolving the civil matter would be improper.
However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) challenged the High Court’s decision in the Court of Appeal. The appellate court overturned the stay, finding that the High Court had misapplied the law, particularly Section 209 of the Magistrates Courts Act, which pertains to civil, not criminal, proceedings.
Still dissatisfied, Kamoga appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking an interim stay of execution pending the hearing of his main appeal (Criminal Appeal No. 138 of 2024) and a related application (Criminal Application No. 2 of 2025).
However, in her ruling, Justice Monica Mugenyi found that the High Court had overstepped its supervisory authority by issuing a permanent stay of the prosecution.
She stated that this was contrary to Section 17(2) of the Judicature Act, which is intended to ensure the swift and efficient administration of justice.
Justice Mugenyi noted that not only do criminal proceedings generally take precedence over civil proceedings, but Kamoga’s pending civil suit would also not be jeopardised by his prosecution, in so far as the latter proceedings offered him the opportunity to rebut the allegations of forgery with evidence that the impugned land transfer forms had been signed by Bibangamba, the complainant.
The charges
In September 2023, Kamoga was arraigned before the Chief Magistrates Court at Entebbe on multiple charges relating to the alleged forgery of Bibangamba’s signature on transfer forms for the land in question.
He is charged with uttering false documents and obtaining registration by false pretences.
In another case, Kamoga is charged with malicious damage to property and the unlawful eviction of Harriet Nabyonga, a resident of Bukaaya village.
The prosecution alleges that on May 7, 2021, at the Wakiso lands office, Kamoga, with intent to deceive, forged a transfer form dated May 7, 2021, in respect of land on Block 435 Plot 8, purporting it to have been signed by Peter Bibangamba when it had not.
The land broker is also accused of uttering a false transfer form after allegedly submitting the forged document to the Registrar of Titles, purporting it to have been signed by Bibangamba when it had not.
Kamoga is also accused of falsifying documents belonging to lawyer Lorna Nkamwesiga to transfer ownership of the land in question.
Genesis of the case
A letter dated August 22, 2023, from George William Byansi, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), to Tom Magambo, the Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, shows that in 2021, Bibangamba engaged Kamoga to help him recover his land from squatters.
The letter indicates that since Bibangamba did not have cash to pay for Kamoga’s services, it was agreed that he would be paid from the proceeds of any sale of the recovered land at a ratio of 35% for Kamoga and 65% for Bibangamba.
However, Bibangamba accuses Kamoga of proceeding to subdivide the entire land into several smaller plots, transferring them into his own name and selling them without Bibangamba’s knowledge.