By Hannah Marion Namukasa
The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kanyanya, Kawempe Division has dismissed with costs an application filed by Kampala-based dentist Dr Ntwatwa Lule challenging a consent judgment over tenancy on disputed kibanja land in Katanga near Wandegeya.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Doreen Ainembabazi held that Dr Ntwatwa failed to convince the court to review or set aside the consent judgment entered into between Pastor Daniel Walugembe and businessman Kenneth Lumumba.
The court found no evidence of fraud or collusion between Walugembe and Lumumba that would justify nullifying the consent judgment.
“I find that no evidence of fraud or collusion was proved with regard to the first respondent (Walugembe) and the second respondent (Lumumba) at the time of execution of the consent,” Magistrate Ainembabazi ruled.
She added that the consent judgment had not been shown to be vitiated in any way warranting interference through review or otherwise.
According to the ruling, Dr Ntwatwa failed to satisfy the court that the consent judgment was illegal, contrary to court policy, or tainted by collusion.
The application arose from Dr Ntwatwa’s attempt to quash the consent judgment, arguing that it undermined his claimed lawful interest and landlord rights over a 75-decimal kibanja located at Kimwanyi-Wandegeya.
Dr Ntwatwa claimed to be the bona fide occupant of one acre of the disputed land, part of which he allegedly rented out to Lumumba for operating a motor garage.
However, Magistrate Ainembabazi ruled that her court lacked pecuniary jurisdiction to determine overriding land rights between Dr Ntwatwa and Pastor Walugembe, noting that the High Court had already determined the matter in favour of Walugembe.
“A party believing that another has acted in contempt of a High Court decision is at liberty to move the High Court for appropriate remedies,” she ruled.
The magistrate further clarified that the consent judgment strictly related to a tenancy dispute between Walugembe and Lumumba involving alleged rent arrears amounting to Shs48 million for 24 months, and not ownership or boundary rights over the land as claimed by Dr Ntwatwa.
“The consent judgment between the parties did not disclose conduct amounting to an agreement forbidden by law or the use of lawful means for an unlawful purpose,” the ruling stated.
“The judgment did not mention the applicant (Dr Ntwatwa) or address his interests in any way. Instead, the second respondent (Lumumba) undertook to pay Shs48 million to the first respondent and to remit future rental dues promptly, failure of which he would face eviction.”
The ruling comes amid ongoing criminal proceedings against Dr Ntwatwa before the Buganda Road Court. Recently, Magistrate Winnie Jatiko Nankya placed him on his defence after the prosecution established a prima facie case against him on charges of forgery and uttering false documents relating to ownership of kibanja land in Katanga near Wandegeya.
Prosecution alleges that between 2019 and 2020, Dr Ntwatwa and others conspired to defraud Pastor Walugembe of kibanja land located opposite GAL near Mulago Roundabout on Haji Kasule Road by falsely claiming to have purchased it from Bulasio Bwisi in the early 1990s.
According to the charge sheet, Dr Ntwatwa allegedly presented forged busuulu receipts to police at Wandegeya Police Station on September 17, 2020, purporting them to have been issued by the family of Ashe Sendawula Mukasa.
Meanwhile, Lumumba has petitioned the court seeking a review of orders requiring him to pay rent to Dr Ntwatwa, arguing that new evidence indicates he was misled into signing a tenancy agreement over land allegedly owned by Pastor Walugembe.
Lumumba maintains that residents in the area widely recognize the disputed kibanja as belonging to Walugembe.
Court records show that in 2015, the High Court declared Jonathan Masembe, Bulasio Buyise, G. Kagimu, and Samalie Nambogga as bona fide occupants of the Katanga land, while Makerere University remained the registered proprietor.
In 2017, the court ruled that the kibanja in dispute belonged to Walugembe.
Two years later, in 2019, the court dismissed with costs a separate case filed by Dr Ntwatwa and 99 others challenging Walugembe’s interest in the land. The decision was never appealed.
Walugembe claims ownership of 28 acres of land in Katanga, saying he purchased 15 acres directly from the family members and acquired an additional 13.75 acres from their licensees.
