Nzeyi holds onto Indian family land

KAMPALA- Businessman Amos Nzeyi is once again in the spotlight after it emerged that the Temangalo land he sold to National Social Security Fund (NSSF) belongs to an Indian family.

The businessman has refused to surrender the land and explained that he didn’t know that the disputed land belonged to M/s Temangalo Tea Estate, a company owned by the family of Muhammad Hassanali Moosa before they were expelled by the Iddi Amin regime.

This newspaper understands that the wrangling for ownership of a 366-acre piece of land held by NSSF at Temangalo in Wakiso District is pending mediation initiated by the land probe.

The family has since petitioned the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire and accused Mr Nzeyi of fraudulently acquiring and occupying their land. The land in question is located on Block 296 Plot 20 in Busiro in 1993.

Although the family did not sign any transfer, the commission heard that Mr Nzeyi got the land from a person who apparently had no connection with the Indian family. It is also not clear how Mr Nzeyi came to own the land in question before he sold it to NSSF in a suspicious deal that became a subject of Parliamentary investigation.

Mr Nazim Moosa, a retired banker based in Vancouver, Canada, appeared before the land probe and presented an original lease title saying his parents acquired the tea estate from the late Daniel Mugwanya Kato and held it until they were expelled in 1972. He testified that at the time Mr Nzeyi acquired the land, the family of Muhammad Hassanali Moosa had a running lease.

According to Mr Moosa, upon visiting it in 1993, part of the disputed land was bushy with some structures, a dairy farm and a watershed and that when they contacted Mugwanya’s family, which leased the land to their parents, they denied knowledge of Mr Nzeyi’s claim on the land.

“We don’t know what transpired in the background but our lawyer (Mulira) revealed to us that he did not find Mr Nzeyi’s title in the land registry,” testified Mr Moosa adding that efforts to find legal redress from courts of law were frustrated despite filing two cases in 1993 and 2016.

Investigations on
Mr Ebert Byenkya, the commission lead counsel, confirmed investigations into accusations of Temangalo land grabbing and further explained that the matter is pending hearing of more evidence from other witnesses.

“Investigations are still ongoing because we still have other witnesses [lined up]… I am also aware that some arrangements are underway to have the matter amicably resolved,” said Mr Byenkya without divulging into the details.

Sources close to the commission told this newspaper that Mr Nzeyi has been seeking a refund from the person who sold him the land in question.

The witnesses to be heard before the land probe include retired banker, Mr Abbas Mawanda, who allegedly sold the disputed land to Mr Nzeyi. Should Mr Nzeyi lose ownership of the disputed land, other sources, say he may be asked to refund more than Shs11b to NSSF.

Nzeyi’s defence
It is not clear when and how Nzeyi acquired the disputed land, how he signed a joint mutation form for sub division of the land and how he transferred it to NSSF. NSSF paid Shs24 million per acre of land to Mr Nzeyi upon providing land titles that were believed to be genuine although the family insists that the title in question was forged.

Asked about the running lease at the time of him acquiring the land, Mr Nzeyi testified that any questions can best be answered by Mr Mawanda and his former lawyers of M/s Sebalu and Lule.

“All I was interested in was to buy that beautiful land, pay for it, handover transfers to the lawyers who were the professionals,” he testified.

However, Mr Nzeyi admitted that at the time of acquisition of the disputed land, there was existence of tea on the land but said it had grown wild but denied knowledge of the 1993 court case against him.

Temangalo land

Mr Nzeyi explained that he took interest in the disputed land in 1988 with a view of establishing a dairy farm but acquired it in phases from former managing director of Uganda Development Bank, Mr Abbas Mawanda who he knew in 1975. Asked about the running lease at the time of him acquiring the land, Mr Nzeyi testified that any questions can best be answered by Mr Abbas Mawanda, who allegedly sold him the disputed land and his former lawyers of M/s Sebalu and Lule.

[email protected]