Guster Muwanga, 80, has remained the lone suspect in the fraudulent sale of more than 500 acres of land in Luwero and Nakasongola districts.
He is accused of masquerading as an administrator of estates of the late Joshua Kabiine. A team of officers from the Land Protection Police Unit led by Commissioner of Police-CP Charles Mutungi arrested Muwanga after the lawful administrators lodged a complaint upon realising that the estate of their late father and grandfather had been sold without their knowledge.
The land in question comprises block 722 measuring 370-acres in Bulemeezi, Luwero district and block 224 measuring 130-acres in Bululi, Nakasongola. The lawful administrators, according to the letter of administration issued by the High Court include Kirumira Henry Gyagenda, a son to the late Kabiine, Sekayala Fenekansi Sendowooza-a grandson, Nakitto Sanyu Mayi and Katazza Harriet Kanaabi, both granddaughters.
The four legal administrators sought police intervention in August last year, prompting investigations into the matter. The Police subsequently summoned Muwanga and two others on August 11, 2021, to record a statement on charges of obtaining registration by false pretence. In his statement at the Land Protection Police Unit, Muwanga said that he was duped by Enock Sendawula and Yasin Kayongo that he was one of the administrators.
Muwanga is a son of the late William Katazza, one of the sons of Joshua Kabiine. In his statement, he said that his father had been chosen as the heir but his grandfather Kabiine died in 1973 before handing over to him the estate. But, he adds, that Ssendawula convinced him to sell the 370 acres in Luwero with a promise that he would help him secure the required documents to prove that he is the legal administrator to the estate.
“By the time I disagreed with Ssendawula, he had already brought buyers of the 370 acres. He told me that he had got titles for each of the pieces of land we were going to sell. I did not get the money and land titles but the land was sold,” Muwanga said.
Police suspect that after Ssendawula earned millions of money from Luwero land, he sent his colleague Kayongo who acted like a saint before Muwanga and convinced him to sell the land in Bululi. Like Ssendawula, Kayongo didn’t also give documents of administration and land titles to Muwanga.
Earlier, when Muwanga was released on Police bond, he had promised to lead the police to Ssendawula and Kayongo’s homes so that they could be arrested. But instead, Muwanga disappeared to Masindi until he was re-arrested. After three months of pleading with Muwanga to help investigators trace for Ssendawula and Kayongo in vain, police have decided to remove the other suspects and charge him alone. However, police say the charge sheet will be amended to add Ssendawula and Kayongo once they are arrested.
“When we rearrested him after hiding for some weeks. We tasked him to find Ssendawula and Kayongo. But we have been hunting for these people in vain. We have since established that the suspects threatened to hurt this Mzee and it is the reason he has chosen not to lead us to their places of residence,” a detective said.
Detectives add that Muwanga knew very well what he was doing and he intended to usurp the powers of the lawful administrators. However, Ssendawula and Kayongo were wiser than him and swindled the proceeds of fraudulently sold land.
