Land probe arrests man for lying on oath

KAMPALA - Justice Catherine Bamugemereire has ordered the arrest of a man accusing him of lying on oath after he failed to produce the identity of his boss who is named in a land grabbing scandal.

Bamugemereire, who chairs the commission of inquiry into land matters, ordered the arrest of Alex Muhirwe aged 49, a resident of Kivumbi zone in Nateete, Kampala, on Tuesday.

Muhirwe was accused of lying on oath when he claimed he had powers of attorney from Ms Peace Kembabazi, owner of 200 contested acres of land, on Block 223 Plot 13 in Kisigala, Singo, but said he had not talked to her boss for several years.
“Unfortunately you (Muhirwe) and Peace Kembabazi I think you have broken no law but you have told a lot of lies on oath. I will ask you to go with us to our officers and record a statement,” Justice Bamugemereire ruled.

Mr Muhirwe, a farmer, was returning to the commission after being sent on October 1, to either bring Kembabazi to the Commission or produce any of her identification papers to prove she exists. Muhirwe says he has powers of attorney from Kembabazi to manage her land.

After attempts by the commission’s Deputy Lead Counsel Mr John Bosco Suuza to get Mr Muhirwe to reveal Kembabazi’s identity failed, Justice Bamugemereire ordered the search on his (Muhirwe’s) two phones for Kembabazi’s contact.

Mr Muhirwe had claimed Kembabazi lived in New York and that the two had not talked since 2014. However after searching his phones, it was established the two had been communicating regularly.
“So Peace Kembabazi has been telling you to tell this commission lies?” Justice Bamugemereire asked after reading the phone messages that Mr Muhirwe and his boss Kembabazi had exchanged about the disputed land.

Reading the WhatsApp messages, Justice Bamugemereire revealed that Kembabazi lives in Canada. After realising that Mr Muhirwe had lied to the commission about his boss’s whereabouts and identity, Justice Bamugemereire ordered him to hand over the land title to the commission.

Justice Bamugemereire said the Commission would consider whether to hand over the land title to the Commissioner for Lands for cancellation or not.

Squatters on the land petitioned the commission to restrain Mr Muhirwe from evicting them from the 24 acres left for them by Mr Solomon Tamale, the former landlord.

The people accused Mr Muhirwe of poisoning their animals and spraying their plants to dry to force them off the land.
Before Muhirwe was taken away, Justice Bamugemereire ordered him to stay off the land.
“In the meantime as long as the commission is carrying out investigations on this land, keep away from it. You should also ask your sister to get off the land and not carry out any activity,” Justice Bamugemereire ordered Muhirwe.

Mr Muhirwe told the Commission that he helped Kembabazi pay Shs96m to Mr Solomon Tamale for the 200 acres.

However, Mr Tamale accused Mr Muhirwe before the Commission of fraudulently transferring his land title into another person’s names.

Mr Tamale said he had hoped to transfer the land title into his father’s names to his own before transferring them further to Mr Muhirwe. However he said he was surprised when Muhirwe transferred the titles directly into his names.