Africa-Press – Uganda. The Masaka Chief Magistrate Court has remanded three people to Masaka prison on charges related to land grabbing.
The trio, who return to court on August 17, face 10 counts including intermeddling with the property of the deceased, uttering false documents, and malicious damage to property.
The group was arrested late last week and early this week by officials from the State House Anti-
Corruption Unit for allegedly grabbing and selling a two-acre piece of land at Samaliya Village, Nyendo/Mukungwe Municipality in Masaka City.
The land reportedly belongs to the family of the late Yafesi Kateregga Nkumbi and the trio’s actions left the beneficiaries of the estate homeless.
The suspects are residents of Mpigi, Kampala and Masaka districts.
It is alleged that the trio and others still at large between March and April divided and sold part of the land.
They reportedly acted without the authority of the administrator general and without fully being authorised by the law.
Court records also show that in 2017, Lukaga and others conspired to defraud Cissy Ndagire, the daughter of the late Nkumbi, of a piece of land at Luzinga Village, Masaka District with the intention of dividing and selling it for personal gains.
In an interview with Daily Monitor on Wednesday, Mr Paul Kasoozi, a relative of Ms Ndagire, said they were forced to seek the intervention of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit after failing to get help from security agencies in Masaka.
Issue
He said the trio often terrorised anyone who tried to oppose them, adding that two of their relatives, Peter Lubega and Bosco Matovu, were arrested for the same.
“The trio was using police officers at Nyendo Police Station to arrest whoever tried to talk about the matter. We need to get justice so that we can get back our land and also have our relatives released without any condition because the rape charges preferred against them are trumped up charges ” he added.
In court, the trio was also accused of forging a judicial report (letters of administration) for the estate of the late Harbius Kalema purporting that it had been issued by the chief magistrate court in Masaka with intent to defraud the family in was informed that in 2017.
Court on Wednesday also heard that the trio uttered false documents (letters of administration) to Nyendo police and Mr Derrick Lukwago, the chairperson of Samaliya Village, purporting that the letters of administration had been issued by the chief magistrate court.
The accused persons were charged with malicious damage to property, which is said to have been committed in March 2022 at Luzinga Village, Nyendo/Mukungwe in Masaka City.
They “willfully and unlawfully” destroyed a coffee plantation belonging to Mr Peter Lubega and a banana plantation belonging to Mr John Bosco Matovu.
They pleaded not guilty to all the charges and asked the court to grant them bail.
However, prosecution led by Ms Harriet Nakigozi, the Masaka City state attorney, told the presiding magistrate that investigations into the matter are still ongoing and asked him to adjourn the case to a later date.
The trio will return to court on August 17 for further mention of the charges.
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