Church hands over title of deceased woman’s land
The head of the State House Land Protection Unit, Brig Gen Lukyamuzi, hands over the land title to the family of Maria Thereza Nakibuuka at their home in Nakuwadde, Wakiso District, yesterday. PHOTO/NOELINE NABUKENYA
What you need to know:
- State House steps in after family accuses Church of grabbing ancestral land.
The Kampala Catholic Archdiocese has handed over a contested land title belonging to the late Maria Thereza Nakibuuka to State House, paving the way for her burial after weeks of a bitter land dispute.
The land in question, measuring approximately 1.4 acres and located in Nakuwadde-Bbira-Lubanyi, Wakiso District, is registered on Block 306, Plot 2430 in Busiro County.
The title, originally in Nakibuuka’s name, was controversially transferred to the Church in 2017, purportedly as a donation to the Legion of Mary, a Catholic lay organisation. However, Brig Gen Moses Lukyamuzi, the head of the State House Land Protection Unit, announced that the Church had surrendered the title following engagement with Church leaders. He presented the title to the deceased’s family, urging them to proceed with burial arrangements.
“The issue is going to be resolved. What was lacking was the title to allow burial to proceed. I will keep it safe. Let the family form a committee to work with my office after the burial,” Brig Lukyamuzi said yesterday.
He added that his office received a letter from the family on Saturday and swiftly acted. On Sunday, he met the Kampala Archdiocese Land Board CEO, Rev Fr Richard Ssajjabi, who facilitated a meeting with Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere the following day. The Archbishop reportedly permitted the title handover to the State House for further investigation.
Brig Lukyamuzi noted that while the Church maintains it has documents showing the land was donated to the Legion of Mary, the family insists the title was given to the Church only for safekeeping. He also delivered condolences from President Museveni and offered Shs10 million to assist the family with burial expenses.
Mr Richard Luswata Musajjakaawa, the Katikkiro (prime minister) of the Nyonyi-Namungoona Clan, thanked State House for its quick intervention. “We wrote to you because our engagements with the Church bore no fruit. They labelled us land grabbers, yet this is our ancestral home,” he said. Mr Musajjakaawa added that the family had tried to resolve the matter peacefully for over eight years, holding a meeting with Fr Ssajjabi as recently as May 6. However, a formal response only came on June 2, by which time Nakibuuka had died.
“We opened the graveyard on this land in 1922 over a century ago. We had suspended burial because we lacked a clear resolution from the Church. Now that the title has been recovered, we can proceed,” he said.
“We lost another family member, who was buried yesterday. After this, we shall plan for Nakibuuka’s burial. Her body has been in the funeral home all this time,” he added.
Gratitude
Ms Rukia Nakagera, a family member, expressed deep gratitude to State House. She admitted the ordeal had shaken her faith.
“I was ready to abandon the Catholic Church,” she said. “My grandmother, who introduced me to the Church, was a devout member of the Legion of Mary. I converted from Anglicanism because of her. But this situation was heartbreaking,” she added.
