The State Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja, has directed the Buganda Kingdom to return land at Kaazi, which he says illegally taken from the family of the late Kabaka Daudi Chwa.
He stated that the land belonged to the late Kabaka as a private estate and not to the Kingdom.
This directive was issued during a public hearing held at Kaazi, where various stakeholders, including members of the late Kabaka Daudi Chwa’s family, bibanja holders, surveyors, representatives of the Uganda Scouts Association Trustees, and investors, were given an opportunity to present their positions.
The disputed land, designated for the Scouts, is part of the estate of H.H. Daudi Chwa and the late Omulangira George William Mawanda.
Presenting the findings of an extensive investigation, Minister Mayanja, alongside Dr. Hillary Emmanuel Musoke Kisanja, the Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Duties, and Ms. Phiona Barungi, the Senior Presidential Assistant on Special Duties, revealed that his office had received a petition from beneficiaries of the estates of H.H. Daudi Chwa and Omulangira George William Mawanda.
He added that the petition raised concerns about illegal transactions involving their land, as well as land belonging to the Uganda Scouts Association, implicating the Buganda Land Board Limited.
These transactions, the minister noted, attempted to invoke provisions of the Traditional Rulers (Assets and Properties) Act of July 30, 1993.
According to the report, the late Kabaka Daudi Chwa II personally owned private mailo land across Buganda, including land in Munyonyo, Lubowa, Nakigalala, Kigo, Busabala, Kajjansi, and Mengo. Among his private estates was land in Kaazi, registered under Final Certificate No. 18454 as an “ABSOLUTE MAILO ESTATE.”
The investigation further confirmed that in 1938, a year before his death, Kabaka Daudi Chwa II donated a portion of his Kaazi estate to the Boy Scouts of Uganda under a Deed of Donation dated June 7, 1938.
“He donated 100 acres to the Scouts of Uganda under a leasehold arrangement. Upon expiry of the lease, the 100 acres shall be transferred to the Scouts to own in perpetuity under mailo tenure. The remaining 20 acres were to be transferred to his heir. The donation was made in the best interests of the Boy Scouts of Uganda. Kabaka Daudi Chwa II made this donation with the aim of ensuring that the Scouts and Girl Guides of Uganda would not be disturbed by future generations,” Minister Mayanja explained.
The Deed of Donation was witnessed by the Katikkiro, Omulamuzi, and Omuwanika, who held these offices at the time.
Minister Mayanja directed the Commissioner of Land Registration to rectify the land records by deleting the registration of the Kaazi land under the Kabaka of Buganda and reverting it to the administrators of the Estate of Daudi Chwa II.
“The registration of the Kaazi land in the names of the Kabaka of Buganda was illegal. The land was initially freehold, later altered to private mailo, then re-entered as official mailo, and eventually transferred to the Kabaka of Buganda. However, as the review indicates, the land is private mailo belonging to the estate of the late H.H. Daudi Chwa,” he stated.
He further directed the Commissioner of Land Registration to collaborate with the administrators of the estate to issue a mailo title for 100 acres to the Boy Scouts Association and the Girl Guides Association of Uganda, in accordance with the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides Act (Cap. 45, now Cap. 148). This, he noted, would ensure alignment with legal provisions and the Deed of Donation made by H.H. Daudi Chwa II.
In a separate directive, Minister Mayanja ordered the deregistration of the Buganda Land Board Limited and its sister company, the Buganda Land Fund Ltd, while canceling any proprietorship claims made by these entities or individuals purporting ownership based on the Traditional Rulers (Assets and Properties) Act of July 30, 1993.
“I direct the Registrar of Companies to deregister the Buganda Land Board Limited, which was registered in 2015 as a private company, misleadingly passing itself off as the 1962 statutory body set up under Section 118 (1) (b) and (3) of the Uganda Independence Act 1962. A private company cannot be a successor in title to a statutory body. I also direct that its sister company, the Buganda Land Fund Limited, be deregistered. The directors of these companies are directed that, by operation of law, they cease any dealings in land transactions,” Minister Mayanja declared.
Additionally, he instructed the Secretary to the Treasury and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development to halt Buganda Land Board Limited’s claim for compensation regarding Kigo Prison and any other claims based on the yet-to-be-constitutionalized Traditional Rulers (Assets and Properties) Act of July 30, 1993. He also recommended steps to recover any funds that had already been disbursed.
Dr. Hillary Emmanuel Musoke Kisanja and Ms. Phiona Barungi, both senior government officials in attendance, urged public servants to embrace honesty and transparency.
Ms. Phiona Barungi, in particular, criticized government officials for their role in fueling public dissatisfaction with the government.
“Government officials must be truthful. They are the reason people hate this government. I will continue speaking the truth even when I know it hurts, and I encourage others to do the same,” she asserted.
