Widow names police chiefs in property dispute

The widow to slain city businessman Wilberforce Wamala has petitioned the Inspector General of Police over failure by top city police commanders to oversee the implementation of a court order that granted her interim administration of the fallen tycoon’s estate.

In different letters written by Elizabeth Nalumansi Wamala and her daughter, Irene Wamala, to IGP Kale Kayihura, the family cites some top police officers, including Kampala Metropolitan Police boss Andrew Kaweesi as one of those who have failed to assist in the said implementation of the court order.

Wilberforce Wamala was attacked at his home in Mutungo and killed on February 3, 2012 by unknown assailants who also killed his house boy, Sadiq Mugerwa.

He left behind two wives; Ms Nalumansi and Ms Jolly Kasande, with a number of children.

Whereas the assailants are yet to be brought to book despite private investigators handing a detailed report about the suspected killers to the police, the widow claims there could be a ploy by friends of the deceased to grab his property. This is despite her repeated request to the police for assistance.

For instance, Ms Nalumansi alleges that no one has been apprehended by police even as a title to a prime piece of land stolen from the crime scene turned up on the market.

The widow alleges in connection with the title: “I was surprised that I had to push them [police] to take a statement from me.” And to make the situation more complex for the family, Mr Kaweesi was quoted by the media recently, indicating that he was kick-starting the investigation into the tycoon’s death.

“It is also unclear how Kampala Metropolitan boss Kaweesi can be talking about kick-starting an investigation that has been ongoing for a year. I didn’t know it was closed,” Ms Nalumansi, who is currently in the UK, wrote to the IGP in a letter that was received on February 28, 2013.

However, Mr Kaweesi told the Sunday Monitor that the investigations were still ongoing and police had only revised the investigations to include some other aspects that had been overlooked at the beginning.

“It is one of the unresolved murder cases in Kampala. We have revisited and widened the scope of the investigations. However, we didn’t work with private investigators. If anyone knows anything that could help, they should come forwards and inform police,” he said on Wednesday.

In a civil suit NO: 133 of 2012, Nakawa High Court Resident Judge Faith Mwondha ruled: “That Elizabeth Nalumansi Wamala, Irene Namala (daughter to the deceased) and Rebecca Nalaki Nkinzi be and hereby appointed interim administrators of the estate of the late Wilberforce Noah Wamala Sendeeba until the disposal of the main suit.”

Justice Mwondha ordered on November 12, 2012, that “the interim administrators shall be subject to the immediate control and direction of court.” But since then, efforts by Ms Nalumansi to take over management of the estate have yielded nothing because some of the properties belonging to the deceased are being guarded by private security personnel.

In one of the correspondences signed by Mr Charles Kataratambi on behalf of the IGP on November 22, 2012, the Kampala Metropolitan chief was notified that “The administrators wish to move items within the estate. However …there are private security guards at one of the properties. This is to ask that the territorial police command oversee the process.”

Another letter from the Police Land Protection Unit (LPU) also cleared the administrators for takeover. The Commandant of LPU, Mr Kototyo W.W, wrote to the DPC in Kabalaga: “In case there are any clarifications you need and or challenges you are facing in witnessing its [court order] implementation, please put them in writing and address the same to the Director KMP.”

Yet another letter signed by Mr Kototyo and the LPU legal officer, Mr Williams Waigo, gave directives that the Kabalagala DPC acts together with the RDC, DISO and area LC officers to witness the execution of the court order.

The Kabalagala DPC, Mr Francis Chemusto, however wrote to Mr Kaweesi, asking: “Does any interim administrator have powers to evict people who also have stake in the property in question when the matters are still in court?”

According to Mr Kaweesi, different units of police, including the legal, land protection and professional standards units met and resolved to have the implementation of the court order forwarded to the Administrator General since the order was ambiguous and did not specify the properties of the deceased.

“Police had no way of knowing which property belonged to the deceased, so we forwarded the matter to the Administrator General. It is wrong for anyone to accuse police of failure to implement a court order. Police only oversees the implementation while court bailiffs implement,” Mr Kaweesi said.

However the Succession Act, Cap. 162 gives an administrator powers to administer an estate. In fact Section 279 of the said Act obliges an executor or administrator to collect, with reasonable diligence, the property of the deceased, and the debts that were due to him or her at the time of his or her death.

But Ms Nalumansi has also pointed accusing fingers at the director of homicide department , Mr William Okalanyi, whom she accuses of “sitting on my husband’s murder file” and wants the said file transferred to the Police Special Investigations Unit.

In a letter to the CIID chief, Ms Grace Akullo, dated March 5, 2013, and received two days later, Ms Nalumansi wrote: “Every time we have been to his [Okalanyi] office, we have observed the file sitting on top of his desk. He has not allocated anyone to carry out the investigation as the homicide administrator and it does not seem like he intends to do that in the near future.”

Mr Okalanyi told this paper by phone on Thursday he was unable to comment on the matter since he is not authorised to speak to the media.

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