An 86-year-old widow has regained access to her late husband’s land after nearly two decades of exclusion by some of her own children, following intervention by the Office of the President.
Tears flowed as Cornelia Nalwada returned to her family home in Buwamba Village, Njeru Municipality, on Wednesday, ending a 19-year ordeal that had left her isolated from the estate she helped build with her late husband.
For years, Nalwada said she was prevented from using the land, denied contact with some family members and subjected to humiliation following her husband’s death.
“This son of mine is the third-born among the nine children I had with their late father. I loved him dearly and trusted him. After their father died, we worked together and shared responsibilities, but he suddenly changed and stopped me from carrying out any activities on the land,” she said.
The widow said the dispute left her dependent on neighbours and well-wishers as she struggled to survive away from her home.
“We could spend years without greeting one another. They treated me like a stranger and used all sorts of words to portray me as a bad person in the village,” she said.
At the centre of the conflict was her third-born son, Andrew Sserubiri, who allegedly accused his mother of causing misfortunes within the family, including failed marriages and other personal setbacks.
Nalwada maintained that she never sought to sell any part of the estate and only wanted peace within the family.
“What I need most is care and affection from my children. I have never wanted to sell my husband’s property. I only want us to live together peacefully as one family,” she said.
The breakthrough came after the widow reported the matter to the Office of the President in Njeru Municipality.
Assistant Resident District Commissioner Chris Richard Kakwezi launched investigations, which found that Sserubiri had allegedly taken control of the estate without obtaining Letters of Administration, a legal requirement for managing the property of a deceased person.
Kakwezi also criticised local leaders for failing to address the widow’s complaints despite years of reported grievances.
“It was negligence for local leaders to watch an elderly widow suffer for years without intervening or referring the matter to higher authorities,” he said.
Investigations further revealed that portions of the disputed land had allegedly been sold without proper documentation or records at the village level.
The findings prompted a reconciliation meeting attended by clan leaders, relatives, residents and members of the deceased’s family.
During the meeting, clan head John Wagonda Muguli said some family members believed Nalwada had forfeited her rights after leaving her marital home for several years before returning following her husband’s death.
“In our culture, when a woman leaves her marriage for many years without formally communicating, some people interpret it as divorce,” Muguli said.
Government officials, however, maintained that cultural beliefs could not override a widow’s legal rights.
Sserubiri defended his actions by claiming that his father had verbally entrusted him with responsibility over the property before his death. He acknowledged, however, that there was no written will or supporting documentation.
The meeting reached an emotional climax when Nalwada demanded a public apology from her son.
In front of relatives and community members, Sserubiri knelt before his mother and asked for forgiveness, admitting the pain he had caused.
Witnesses said many attendees were moved to tears as the pair embraced for the first time in nearly two decades. Grandchildren later gathered around the elderly woman, symbolising what residents described as a long-awaited reconciliation.
Kakwezi ruled that Nalwada remains the rightful caretaker of the estate until administrators are formally appointed in accordance with Uganda’s succession laws.
“The widow has every right to occupy and utilise her late husband’s property. Until proper legal procedures are followed, she remains the legitimate caretaker of the estate,” he said.
For Nalwada, the ruling marked more than the resolution of a land dispute.
After 19 years of estrangement, she has regained not only her home but also her place within the family she feared she had lost forever.