Court halts Muslim land deal

COURT|RELIGION|MUSLIMS

The court's move follows an application of temporary injunction by Muganga, through his company - Enterprise Handling Services.

Muganga said he has a running lease on the land. Former Uganda's president Idi Amin donated part of the five square miles to the Muslim community in 1974.

"The respondents, its agents, servants and all those acting on its behalf are hereby restrained from evicting, transferring ownership, alienating and or taking possession of the property, pending hearing and determination of the main suit," reads part of the ruling.

Masaka High Court judge Victoria Katamba made the ruling Thursday (November 12, 2020), in the presence of lawyers representing both parties.

Although the land in dispute was allegedly sold to Lyantonde-based businessman Justus Mugisha, Muganga is opposed to it, arguing that his 15-year lease has not expired.

Documents seen by New Vision indicate that UMSC on June 8, offered to pay Muganga sh600m in compensation for the remaining rent period, but he refused.

Muganga contends that he obtained a 15-year lease fromSembabule Muslim council at sh280m and is left with seven years to expire.

"I am surprised UMSC has sold it to a third party without my knowledge," Muganga said. He said it was wrong for UMSC to sell the land without compensating him. "I spent a lot of money clearing the land because it had illegal occupants," Muganga contends.

When contacted, UMSC secretary general Haji Ramathan Mugalu said Muganga is part of the group which wanted to grab the land.

"Our lower structure (Sembabule Muslim district council) leased the land to him at sh100m. We offered him sh600m in good faith and he refused. Since his lease was fraudulently obtained as we were not consulted, we decided to take over our land because we risked losing it to grabbers," Mugalu said.

He argued that they gave the first priority of buying the land to Muganga, but he declined, insisting that his lease is still running.

However, sources within the council, who declined to be named, said the deal is worth $8m (about sh29.4b). Sources further claim that the land in dispute is among the properties demarcated for the intended Uganda-Tanzania crude oil pipeline project.

Hussein Zirimenya Ssalongo, a resident of Ntuusi, expressed dismay over what he described as side-lining them during the sale of the land.

"We are responsible for all Muslim properties in our district, but we were shocked to learn from the media that the land had been sold yet we are supposed to be consulted for any transaction made on properties within our district," Zirimenya said.

He added that Muganga legally acquired the lease from Sembabule Muslim district, contrary to what Mugalu claims.

"We consulted the Mufti before leasing out the land to Muganga. Muganga is not an encroacher on the land," Zirimenya said.

He also dismissed allegations that the land has been redundant as some of the top UMSC officials claim.

The land has been a centre of controversy among members of the Muslim community since 2008 when a parallel Muslim administration was set up at Kibuli in Kampala.