For more than 16 years, a bitter property war between businessman Mukesh Shukla of Shumuk Group and the family of the late businessman Bonny Mwebesa Katatumba has consumed courtrooms, divided public opinion, triggered criminal prosecutions, and drawn in some of Uganda’s most influential legal and political figures.
Now, the long-running dispute, after an out-of-the-press hiatus, appears poised to be back in the news this time with the suspension of lawyer Charles Odera, the managing partner of Landwell Advocates.
Last week, the Law Council published a notice in which it suspended Odera from legal practice for 12 months after its Disciplinary Committee found him guilty of ‘professional misconduct’ in a matter linked to the Shumuk-Katatumba property dispute.
The suspension has sent shockwaves through legal circles, with some lawyers questioning whether an advocate can fairly be punished for actions undertaken while representing a client in a highly contentious matter.
It has also opened a fresh front in one of Uganda’s longest-running commercial disputes.
While Odera declined over the weekend to discuss the substance of the case, saying he did not wish to litigate the matter through the media, documents filed in court show he has already launched a formal challenge against the decision.
‘These are court matters, and I don’t want the Council to think I am explaining things on the sidelines,’ he said.
A notice of appeal filed in the High Court on May 18 shows that he intends to challenge the entire decision of the Law Council’s Disciplinary Committee.
In the notice, filed through Tusasirwe and Co Advocates, Odera avers that he is dissatisfied with the decision that suspended him from legal practice and intends to seek relief before the High Court.
His lawyers have also written to the Chief Registrar arguing that the disciplinary proceedings were conducted in his absence and that the Law Council failed to furnish him with a copy of the ruling and typed proceedings despite his request.
The dispute over Odera’s suspension has once again thrust the spotlight back onto a conflict that has outlived court terms, governments and even some of the principal actors involved.
A multi-billion-shilling dispute
The conflict stretches back to the late 2000s and revolves around some of Kampala’s most valuable commercial properties.
At the centre of the dispute are Hotel Diplomate in Muyenga and Shumuk House on Colville Street, formerly associated with Katatumba Suites and Blacklines House.
Court records show that in August 2008, the late Katatumba agreed to sell the Colville Street property to Shumuk Springs Development for approximately $5m.
The arrangement reportedly required an initial payment of $101,000, with the balance to be cleared within 60 days.
However, subsequent litigation would reveal sharply differing accounts of what followed.
Court proceedings over the years have revolved around whether payment obligations were fulfilled, whether subsequent transactions were valid, and whether certain properties were lawfully transferred.
The dispute later expanded into claims involving a contested Shs3b loan allegedly advanced to the late Katatumba using family properties as collateral, which Katatumba and later members of his family have consistently challenged in courts.
The matter has, over the years, generated injunctions, evictions, appeals, criminal complaints, and multiple court proceedings stretching across more than a decade.
The conflict has also, at some point, been escalated to President Museveni, with Shukla seeking intervention in a matter where he said in public statements that his companies had spent years fighting for properties they had lawfully purchased from the late Katatumba.
Criminal allegations
The dispute became even more controversial when criminal allegations emerged alongside the civil proceedings.
At one stage, Shukla faced prosecution over allegations relating to forged court documents allegedly used in litigation connected to Hotel Diplomate.
The allegations transformed the dispute from a commercial disagreement into a national controversy.
Shukla, however, denied wrongdoing and described the criminal proceedings as malicious and intended to damage his reputation.
Meanwhile, both sides continued securing victories and suffering setbacks in different courts, ensuring that the dispute remained far from resolved.
Enter Odera
It was within this highly charged environment that Odera became involved.
Odera, according to a public notice published last Friday, acted for the late Katatumba in various proceedings connected to the dispute, and represented his client ‘diligently and professionally’ throughout the prolonged litigation.
But it is from his representation that disciplinary proceedings, whose legitimacy he questions, were lodged against him.
According to Odera, the complaint originated from Shukla, who was never his client, raising questions about whether professional misconduct provisions intended to protect advocate-client relationships were properly invoked.
He further argues that he was denied a fair hearing and has raised concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest in the handling of the complaint.
The Law Council’s decision, nevertheless, for now until otherwise, bars Odera from holding himself out as an advocate, filing new matters, signing pleadings, or handling client files during the suspension period.
We could not independently verify the circumstances under which Odera was suspended.
Calls to Principal State Attorney Law Council Naome Kyompaire and Shukla’s known mobile phone numbers remained unanswered by press time.
Odera’s suspension has, however, unsettled sections of the legal fraternity.
Pius Olaki, a former partner at LAX Advocates who formerly worked alongside Odera on aspects of the Katatumba-Shumuk dispute in 2016, says he was shocked by the suspension and believes it ‘is very unfair’.
Odera, Olaki says, was merely carrying out his professional duty by representing a client in a fiercely contested commercial dispute, and ‘to accuse and punish him for performing that duty amounts to punishing a lawyer for being a lawyer’.
A dispute that won’t go silent
Even after more than a decade and a half of litigation, the Katatumba-Shumuk battle continues to generate new controversies, court decisions, and public debate.
With Odera preparing to challenge his suspension before the High Court, the conflict has once again expanded beyond the ownership of land and buildings.
And as the latest appeal heads to court, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the Katatumba-Shumuk saga is a case that simply refuses to go silent.