The High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against Bujenje County Member of Parliament Patrick Kasumba, ruling that the complainants acted fraudulently in a disputed land transaction involving a prime property on Martin Road in central Kampala.
Justice Immaculate Busingye Byaruhanga of the Land Division delivered the ruling, finding that the complainants, Brig Samuel Mutesasira Wasswa and businessman Charles Ggingo Mujje, never lawfully acquired any interest in the property and that their dealings with the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) were fraudulent.
‘The sale of the suit property between the plaintiffs is invalid,’ Justice Byaruhanga ruled on Wednesday, adding: ‘The 2nd defendant’s cancellation of the sale of the suit property to the 1st plaintiff was lawful since the Expropriated Properties Act had come into force.’
The court ordered the eviction of Mujje from the property, absolving Kasumba of wrongdoing in his role as a transaction lawyer representing the family of the late Col Moses Kayima, also known as Drago, who had been the sitting tenant on the land.
Court records show that Kasumba, a lawyer with Kasumba, Kugonza and Company Advocates, had been accused of fraud in the transfer of the land formerly owned by Col Drago.
The case before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court had been stayed pending resolution of the civil dispute.
In the civil case, Brig Wasswa and Mujje had sued eight parties, including the Attorney General, DAPCB, the Commissioner for Land Registration, Teopista and Jesus Holdings (U) Ltd, and members of the late Drago’s family – who were represented by Kasumba.
Justice Byaruhanga found that the family of the late Col Drago were the rightful beneficiaries of the property, which devolved to them upon his death.
‘.the late Drago was a sitting tenant on the suit land by virtue of occupancy and as such the suit property devolved onto his estate. The 5th-9th defendants’ claim for the property as the beneficiaries of the late Drago was lawful,’ the judge held.
She dismissed the allegations of fraud against Kasumba, ruling that there was no sufficient evidence to support them.
‘The Brig Wasswa bought the suit property from the Central Waste Management and not the 5th-9th defendants,’ Justice Byaruhanga said, adding: ‘Much as the transfer forms indicate that it is the 5th-9th defendants who transferred to the 1st defendant (Teopista and Jesus Holdings), the evidence of Maureen Kamya is to the effect that they signed blank transfer forms while effecting transfer to Central Waste Management.’
The court established that the Drago family had sold the property to Central Waste Management Limited on January 15, 2013, which later sold it to Teopista and Jesus Holdings (U) Ltd on June 12, 2013.
Justice Byaruhanga concluded that documents used by Brig Wasswa and Mujje were forged and that one of the defendants, Hamidah Kayima, ‘did not participate in the transactions nor append her signature on the sale to Central Waste Management.’
The ruling effectively ends the long-running legal battle and clears MP Kasumba of criminal liability in the contested property case.