UPDF soldier arrested from contested land, charged with criminal trespass

WAKISO - The Police in Nsangi in Wakiso district have arrested a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier for allegedly conniving with some people to forcefully take over private land.

RA262733 Private Isaac Ssekajja alias Gitta was arrested on Thursday, September 18, 2025, from Nakatema village in Nsangi Central Zone, Kyengera Town Council, by a joint security team of Police and UPDF soldiers from Nsangi Police Station.

The joint security team responded to a call for intervention from Richard Mwesigwa after the soldier forcefully led some people to take over his land.

The land in question, located at Busiro Block 359, plots 2218 and 2219 at Nakatema, belongs to Mwesigwa but was recently sold by Post Bank Uganda Limited to Ronald Obonyo at sh51m.

The bank claims that Mwesigwa failed to service and complete a loan and decided to sell his mortgage, which Mwesigwa contested.

The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Patrick Onyango, confirmed the soldier's arrest, saying he is facing charges of criminal trespass and malicious damage.

“It is true, a UPDF soldier, Private Isaac Ssekajja, was arrested by Nsangi Police on charges of criminal trespass and malicious damage.”

According to Onyango, the soldier was taken to Nsangi police station, where he recorded a statement but was later released on police bond.

It is alleged that on arrest, Ssekajja was wearing a forged name tag showing his name as Private Gitta, but he admitted on the site that it was not his true name.

The development came after the Office of the President wrote to the commissioner land registration in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, requesting him to halt all transactions on land allegedly illegally sold by Post Bank Uganda Limited.
It is alleged that the bank sold the two plots of land located in Nakatema district, despite an ongoing civil suit in the High Court of Uganda.

The land, comprising Busiro Block 359 plots 2218 and 2219 at Nakatema, belongs to Mwesigwa but was recently sold by the bank to Ronald Obonyo at sh51m.

In a letter dated August 21, 2025, signed by Phiona Barungi, the senior presidential assistant on special duties, and copied to the minister for the presidency and the bank, she asked the commissioner to halt any transactions on the land until court pronounces itself on the matter.
“This office is in receipt of a complaint from Mwesigwa Richard, the registered proprietor of the above-mentioned land. He alleges that Post Bank Uganda Limited has fraudulently sold his land, yet there is an ongoing court case in the High Court of Uganda at Kampala (Commercial Division), civil suit number 401 of 2022,” the letter reads in part.

Obonyo, however, says he bought the land from the bank, but when he went to start construction, he realised that the land was being utilised by another individual.

He says he faced resistance after the owner of the land called the Police from Nsangi and blocked him from taking over the land.

“The police blocked me from using my land, I called my lawyer, who talked to the police, but they did not agree. But for me, I am still pursuing the mission of using my land because I legally own it,” he said.

He, however, says that if he fails to secure the land, he would ask the bank to refund his money and compensate him for the expenses he incurred.

Earlier on, Post Bank Uganda Limited’s spokesperson, Shirley Hannah Birungi, the director public relations, confirmed that the bank had received a copy of a letter from the Office of the President, adding that the bank’s legal team was handling the matter.