Multibillion estate: Sematimba lawsuit for March 24

KAMPALA - Court has set the hearing of a law suit involving Peter Sematimba and a multi-billion estate for March 24.

Themi Nakibuuka Sebalu, the daughter of senior city lawyer Paulo Sebalu (RIP) seeks to evict Sematimba from the estate.

She is accusing the Busiro East MP-elect of not only intermeddling with her father's estate, but also fraudulently registering it in his own names.

When the case had come up for hearing last week, Justice Percy Night Tuhaise of the High Court ordered the parties to file a joint memorandum of the facts of the case and the issues pertaining to it.

The judge also ordered the accuser (Nakibuuka) to file the witness statements by March 10 and the defendant to file his reply by March 18.

This was to ease and expedite the hearing of the case that was filed in court in February 2014.

She accused Sematimba of forging late Sebalu's signature on the land transfer forms after taking possession of a number of his certificates of land titles and; falsely declaring that Sebalu gifted all of them to him.

According to Nakibuuka's plaint, the Super FM executive director is also accused of fraudulently transferring a number of land titles into his names and falsely changing Sebalu's Muyenga Club into Muyenga Resort Hotel Ltd.

She argues that she is the only surviving biological daughter of the late Sebalu, who she says died without leaving a will (intestate).  She also alleges that her father, who was unmarried, died mysteriously.

Reprepresented by John Mary Kiwuuwa and David Mpanga, Nakibuuka is suing Sematimba jointly with his Muyenga Resort Hotel Ltd and the Commissioner Land Registration.

She seeks;

• orders directing the Commissioner Land Registration to cancel Sematimba's names from her father's land certificates. The property is comprised in Kyadondo Block 244 Plots 1791, 1792, 5867, and 3646 situated at Muyenga hill.

• orders reinstating her father Paulo Sebalu's names on the land certificates.

• an order compelling Sematimba to hand over to her all the certificates of title that he had allegedly transferred into his names - a permanent injunction restraining him and his company Muyenga Resort Hotel Ltd from further interference in her father's estate.

Sebalu died in November 2013, and his daughter now insists that he could not have signed the transfer forms of his land into Sematimba's names, because by the time of his death, he (Sebalu) was suffering failing health due to advanced age.

He was visually impaired, incapable of seeing or knowing the contents of any documents and; therefore, he was not in any frame of mind or sight to be able to sign the transfer forms of the properties. 
                                                   
However, Sematimba, who is a nephew of the late Paulo Sebalu, totally denies his cousin's allegations, saying that he would present evidence to show that the properties at Kyadondo Block 244 Plots 1791, 1792, 3636, and 5867 all situated at Muyenga hill and; Kyadondo Block 246 Plot 1972, Kyaggwe Block 149 Plot 226 and 202 legally belong to him.

Represented by Charles Semakula Muganwa, Ssematimba further avers that the late Sebalu relinquished his interests in the properties on March 3, 2013 when he signed the transfer forms in his favour.

However, Nakibuuka alleged that immediately after Sematimba had fraudulently taken possession of her late father's properties, he renamed Muyenga Club Limited, Muyenga Resort Hotel Limited.



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