Dead priest family wants Shs150 million from bank

Kampala. The family of Fr Peter Kasooli Bwayo, whose body has been lying in the mortuary for the past seven months after it was exhumed, has given Centenary Bank a two-week ultimatum to pay them Shs150m in damages.

The family’s demands stem from the bank’s move to attach the deceased’s property over non-payment of a loan.
The bank, through bailiffs, recently published a notice of auction for the priest’s land and buildings on Busano Road in Mbale Town, Mbale District, on grounds that the property was used as a mortgage to acquire a Shs140m loan that has never been repaid.

Fr Mathew Bwayo, the deceased’s next of kin, and his elder brother Mr Clement Bwayo, both deny knowledge of how a one Nixon Mwebaze obtained the land title and powers of attorney from the deceased priest to acquire a loan from Centenary Bank, Entebbe Road branch in Kampala.

“The land title went missing from Fr Peter’s house at Bugema, Busano Road in 2014 and we reported a case at Mbale Police Station. Now, we have found it with the bank as it moves to sell off the property to recover a loan which we do not know of,” Mr Clement Bwayo said.

The family, which has since secured a caveat from the Uganda Land Commission to block the bank from auctioning the property, is now demanding damages for the inconveniences caused by the attachment. This comes as the family plans to re-burry the remains of the deceased, which still lie in the Mbale Municipal Mortuary.

Through Gyabi & Co Advocates, in a letter dated November 5, the family indicates that the purported powers of attorney used by Mr Mwebaze to secure the loan were issued in August 2015, more than a year after the death of Fr Peter, and allegedly witnessed by a one Ms Safina Kabusinguzi referred to as his wife.

“We are instructed to point out that a one Nixon Mwebaze’s dealings with your bank in respect to the deceased’s above property is defective because it was accompanied by evidence of grant of Letters of Administration of the Estate of the registered owner, the Rev Fr Peter Kasooli Bwayo, who died on June 24, 2014, a year before your transaction,” a copy of the letter reads in part.

“Until your bank can prove how the deceased signed on the Power of Attorney from beyond the grave, our client insists that your transaction on the above property is fraudulent, illegal, null and void,” it added.

When contacted, Centenary Bank’s chief manager for corporate affairs and communications, Ms Allen Ayebare said, “This case is under police investigation. For now, we shall let the investigation take its course.”

The bank last week indicated they were aware of the conflicting facts about the matter, adding that the police had commenced investigations.

Background
Peter Kasooli Bwayo’s (pictured left) remains were exhumed on March 23 by police pathologists following a court order by Mbale Magistrate’s Court.

The family wanted police to investigate the cause of the priest’s death on June 24, 2014, while serving as a missionary in Tampa, Florida, USA. His remains were controversially flown back to Uganda on July 21, 2014, and buried at the ancestral land three days later.

But police pathologist Moses Byaruhanga and the Government Analytical Laboratory in Kampala have since failed to establish the cause of death.

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