Man remanded for forging Kampala-Jinja Expressway compensation documents
Kampala-Jinja Express. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The duo had earlier petitioned court claiming to be the rightful administrators of the land but court found out that the letters of probate which they were holding weren’t authentic.
Makindye Court has remanded the key suspect in the Kampala-Jinja Express way land case to Kitalya prison until September 6.
Mr Nabbimba is charged with altering court documents and forging land titles to wrongfully claim compensation from Uganda National Road Authority (Unra)- for some land affected by construction of the multi-million road project. However he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The land in question is comprised of Kyaggwe Block 118 Plots 18, 23 and 24 at Kyungu-Mukono District.
Grade one magistrate, Mr John Paul Osaulo rejected Mr Nabbimba’s bail application on grounds that ‘‘his lawyer who had earlier reported to court on Wednesday morning disappeared without notifying court yet the case had been scheduled for hearing.’’
Consequently, the ongoing ownership wrangle has stalled workd on the project.
Mr Nabbimba was jointly sued with Ms Christine Natyaba by businessman Mr Muhammad Katimbo for blocking his compensation by Unra after they claimed ownership of for the same land.
The duo had earlier petitioned court claiming to be the rightful administrators of the land but court found out that the letters of probate which they were holding weren’t authentic.
But they insisted on ownership and petitioned Unra to withhold the compensation to Mr Katimbo.
Documents filed before court indicate that Mr Katimbo bought the three plots in question from a one Mr Christopher Musubire in 1994.
However when Unra refused to compensate Mr Katimbo he run to court seeking for the return of his land titles which he had submitted to them, citing connivance to frustrate his compensation.
The businessman also accused some Unra officials of interfering in investigations that had come after the suspects were arrested for trespassing on his land contrary to directives of the the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
The Mukono High Court Judge, Justice Elizabeth Kibula Kabanda in May ruled that ‘‘Unra had no legal mandate to confiscate Mr Katimbo’s land titles and directed that they be handed to him.’’
In her ruling, Justice Kabanda noted that whereas the question of who was the rightful owner of the land wasn’t hers to resolve, there was no satisfactory reason as to why Unra had confiscated Mr Katimbo’s land titles.
Mr Katimbo later petitioned the DPP expressing dissatisfaction against Unra’s legal officer, Ms Lydia Katami, for her alleged involvement in the release of Mr Nabbimba and Ms Natyaba yet their file had already been sanctioned.
The Assistant DPP regional officer for Kampala MS Catherine Namakoye wrote to the Residents Chief State Attorney of Makindye court on May 17, 2021 asking for the police file of the suspects (CID HTQRS E/88/2021) to enable her handle the complaint.
This month, the CID police arrested Mr Nabbimba and arraigned him before court. But Ms Natyaba is yet to be arrested.
Unra’s media manager, Mr Allan Ssempebwa said that the roads agency will wait for court to pronounce itself on the matter so that they can compensate the rightful owner of the contested land.
