Tooro Queen Mother Best Kemigisa denies grabbing kingdom land
Tooro Kingdom queen mother Ms Best Kemigisa (centre) with her lawyer Mr Vincent Akampurira (left) and Princes Elizabeth Bagaya (right) appear before the Land Probe Commission in Kampala on April 23, 2018. PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA
What you need to know:
- Evidence before land commission shows that upon the death of her husband, King Patrick Mathew Olimi Kaboyo on August 3, 1995, the Queen Mother acquired letters of administration as a sole administrator of the estate in 1999 which formed basis for transfer of the land into her names and subsequent sale of the royal family land.
Accompanied by her lawyers, Best Kemigisa has defended herself against allegations of land grabbing made by a section of kingdom officials before the land probe commission currently sitting in Wandegeya.
In their petition to the land commission, royal family members accused the Queen Mother of grabbing the kingdom land and selling cultural sites such as burial grounds of their ancestors at Kagoma and Burongo in Kibitto and Kisomoro sub-counties respectively.
However, Kemigisa told the land commission chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereirwe that like any other woman she was given this property rightfully from her husband.
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Queen Mother accused of selling burial sites
The petitioners say denial of entitlement of their property has kept the royal family members in abject poverty
“We’re talking about the land which I inherited from my husband. Some members of Tooro kingdom came here and said I’m evicting people but I’ve never evicted people,” she said.
She added: "I am not surprised by those allegations, I went to court because the people who didn't want me to get my late husband's land are my sisters and brothers in-law....Even in Kitumba where I have my palace, there are burial site of the royals and the land belongs to me and my children."
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On March 7, a group of Tooro royal family members led by Prince Gilbert Atwooki Mujogya testified that Ms Kemigisa acquired letters of administration as a sole administrator of the estate in 1999 which formed basis for the transfer of the land into her names and subsequent sale
Evidence before land commission shows that upon the death of her husband, King Patrick Mathew Olimi Kaboyo on August 3, 1995, the Queen Mother acquired letters of administration as a sole administrator of the estate in 1999 which formed basis for transfer of the land into her names and subsequent sale of the royal family land.
