The family of the late Muwanga Omuweesi has accused Madhavan Group Limited of harassment, property destruction, and violating a court order in an ongoing dispute over ownership of prime land at Nakigalala along the Entebbe Expressway in Wakiso District.
The dispute, which has been before the courts since 2013, pits the estate of the late Buganda chief against Madhavan Group Limited, its subsidiary Kakira Sugar Works Limited, and the Commissioner for Land Registration. The family alleges that the company fraudulently converted the land’s tenure from Mailo to freehold, depriving them of their ownership interest. Those allegations remain before court and have not been judicially determined.
In 2022, the High Court’s Land Division issued an interim order restraining Madhavan Group Limited, its agents, employees, and workers from claiming, selling, alienating, or mortgaging the disputed land at Nakigalala, Kajjansi, pending the determination of the main suit.
The administrators of the estate, Benjamin Kalumba Ssebuliba and Robert Kayongo, are seeking ownership of the disputed 306-acre property on Block 374.
Despite the court order, members of the Omuweesi family allege that employees of Madhavan Group have continued to intimidate them, assault family members, and destroy homes, crops, toilets, and ancestral graveyards.
Alexandria Nanteza, a granddaughter of the late Muwanga Omuweesi, alleged that company workers have repeatedly attacked family members using machetes, sticks, and other weapons while damaging their property.
“They arrogantly come and cut down our crops and have since resorted to spraying deadly chemicals that have destroyed our food crops, yet there is a court order which we respect,” Nanteza said.
She further claimed that workers had destroyed part of the family’s remaining ancestral burial grounds after learning that the court was expected to conduct a site visit.
Another granddaughter, Jane Nantege, alleged that male employees of the company assaulted her and warned the family to vacate the land to pave way for expansion of the company’s tea estate.
“They boast that even if we report to the police, nothing can happen because they are powerful. We already lost a graveyard containing more than 125 of our ancestors who were allegedly exhumed and taken to unknown places, and the remaining graves are also under threat,” Nantege said.
The family has appealed to government authorities to intervene, arguing that the alleged actions have caused distress and interfered with the preservation of their ancestral burial grounds.
They also claim that complaints lodged with Kajjansi Police Station, Police Headquarters, and the Criminal Investigations Directorate have not resulted in any action.
“We only receive threats whenever they learn that a complaint has been reported against Madhavan Group,” Nantege alleged.
When contacted for a response, a Madhavan Group financial controller identified as Origit initially declined the call, stating it was a wrong number before switching off.
He later returned the call, saying he was in a meeting, but declined to comment on the allegations.
“I do not know about that matter and I do not give comments,” he said.
According to court documents, the estate of the late Muwanga Omuweesi maintains that the disputed Mailo land was granted to their ancestor by Kabaka Chwa II of Buganda.
The family says a title was created on October 20, 1913, with a certificate of registration issued by the British colonial administration under reference FC9662.
The court documents further indicate that a separate freehold title was later created in 1925 under Uganda Rubber and Coffee Estates Limited and Nsimbe Estates Mawokota Uganda. The family argues that the records do not indicate the termination of the original Mailo title, forming part of the dispute currently before the courts.
