Bruno Senkatuka Serunkuuma, the clan head of the Luggya and Lunyiriri of Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje whose estate of 320 Acres of land was illegally sold by the officials at the Administrator General’s office since 1993 dies inexplicably.
Senkatuka, the head of the Ssiga of Nakiyenje died abruptly two weeks ago after waiting for the Administrator General to account for the estate as ordered by court in vain. As the head of the Ssiga of Nakiyenje, he was made the heir after the death of Mayanja’s only son Henry Kyobe (his first cousin) but the Administrator General made it very difficult for him to take over the estate. Following the delay and impunity by AG to implement the court order signed and sealed on November 10, 2020 by Justice David Matovu, Senkatuka summoned a clan meeting that sat at Bukasa – Bijiri Kawuku – Katabi – Entebbe, Wakiso District on December 06, 2020 to among other things install the heir of Kyobe’s estate. The minutes of the meeting vide CLCSDC/A002/22/01/2021 that was attended by 25 clan members declared Kaweesa Balikuddembe as the heir and the installation ceremony presided over by Senkatuka, another senior elder Kalyesubula John Baptist Lukenge and later closed with a Catholic Church mass led by Rev. Fr. Kalaudiyo Ssegonja of Ggaba Parish.
HOW KYOBE’S ESTATE WAS ILLEGALLY SOLD
More details of how 320 acres of land (comprised in Busiro Block 429 plot 3 at Kawuku – Bugiri) previously belonging to Mzee Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje who died in 1981 at Bwerenga – Busiro in Wakiso District was mismanaged and split into 163 plots and illegally sold with no standard formula have emerged.
Following Justice Herbert Ntabgoba’s judgment in HCS no. 170 of 1990, all property left by Late Mayanja was passed on to his only son Henry Kyobe who unfortunately was mentally disabled due to a serious accident hence remained in the state of unsound mind throughout his life.
This came after the office of the Administrator General On May 19, 1989 applying for the letters of administration for the estate of late Mayanja vide Kampala High court Administration cause No. 265 of 1989 and a grant was issued in favour on June 27, 1989. However, this privilege was abused by the officials at the office of Administrator General who reportedly connived with suspicious family members and without any Court Order(s) divided and illegally sold the entire deceased’s estate. It is hitherto not known where proceeds went because the trustee has no evidence that Kyobe or his people benefited and has failed to account.
ADMINISTRATOR GENERAL ‘RAPES’ LAW
The Administrator General’s Act requires that whenever the estate is sold by the accused office, it must be in the interest of the beneficiaries. The overwhelming evidence indicates that huge chunks of land were sold after Kyobe’s death in 2019 and this raises unanswered questions; in whose interest was the sale done? If the land was sold and the beneficiaries did not benefit, where did the money go?
Besides, the law requires the Administrator General to advertise in the newspapers and if there is no claimant (a legally appointed beneficially by court), the money be put in the consolidated fund. Contrary to the law, there is no trace of the money obtained from the proceeds of Kyobe’s estate in the consolidated fund.
The Trustee Act states that in the interest of beneficially at all material times, the trustee is accountable forever without any limitation, so the Administrator General is accountable for the estate in question since 1993 until an unspecified time. If one goes by the current law on the management of the estates for the people with unsound mind, there should have been a court order secured by the Administrator General to do any transaction regarding the estate. In the case of Kyobe’s estate, the lease of Land to Aurum Roses and Scripture Union must have been done under court guidance and proceeds of the lease must have been accounted for in court and there is no evidence adduced to this effect. Even then, any sale, transfer or mortgage for whatever purpose must be after a Court Order is obtained and all these have never been furnished. This leaves no doubt in the minds of the sound Ugandans that the properties were sold to benefit the officials at the office of Administrator General.
None of the records unearthed from the Lands office in connection to this matter carry any signature of Kyobe’s beneficiaries from both the paternal or maternal side. All the records seen by this publication indicate that the Administrator General was selling as a vendor and people who bought were endorsed as buyers. The Administrator General did not build any house, kitchen or even a toilet for Kyobe or any of his close relatives. To make matters worse, the officials at the Administrator General’s office did not even meet Kyobe’s burial expenses as required by law which confirms that they were in cohort with Nanteza Agati who hid his body at Mulago Medical School as they sold his land. The question remains where and when did the officials send the proceeds of the estate?
Besides all that, there were contradictions and inconsistencies in selling the land, something that turned the whole process into a BONANZA. The people who bought different sizes almost at the same time had differing payments – the available documents show that there was no valuation or standard procedure followed and this implies that the officials were the final determinants on how much each buyer would pay depending on their moods. A case in point is; whereas Dimitria Nabbantu Kaddugala paid Shs18.500,000 for 0.532 hectares, Paul Seminyigo Wavamuno paid Shs20,000,000 for 0.281 hectares and whereas Thereza Najjuna paid Shs4,000,000 for 0.6 hectares, Sentamu Francis Xavier paid Shs30,000,000 for 0.587 hectares. To further prove that the Administrator General officials had a lot of suspicious interests; when some buyers raised questions and made appropriate searches at land’s offices, the land would be withdrawn. A case study of this is clear in the land that was first sold to Dhusaniya Binyera of Ziba – Ssaabaga – Kyagwe, then transferred to Nasani Wakisu of Mova Gomba Ngogwe – Kyaggwe and then transferred to Aggrey Mulira, then to Bruno Senkatuka and Madalene Nakku. This land was later withdrawn from the first owners back to the Administrator General in 1995.
Another case of hidden interests of the Trustee was clearly manifested in 1993 when the widow of Mzee Mayanja, Madalene Nakku and Kyobe’s cousin – Bruno Senkatuka Serunkuuma applied for the letters of administration and the registrar’s court granted them. The Administrator General without any haste ran faster than lightning to court to challenge the circumstances under which the letters of administration were granted to the widow and Kyobe’s first cousin to which the reversal was made and the decision of High Court cause No. 265 of 1989 was upheld.
DEFIANT ADMINISTRATOR GENERAL
The miscellaneous application No. 443/2020 arising from the civil suit 376/2018 before His Lordship Justice David Matovu on November 10, 2020 ordered and declared that;
i) the judgment vide HCCS number 170 of 1990 of Justice Herbert Ntabgoba exhaustively dealt with the estate of the late Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje and resolved that Henry Kyobe was the sole beneficially to the said estate.
ii) the Administrator General is appointed the administrator of the estate of the late Kyobe.
iii) the Administrator General is ordered to collect all the land and property that belonged to the late Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje and pass on the same to the estate of Henry Kyobe.
iv) the Administrator is ordered to furnish with court an account of all properties that now constitute the estate of Henry Kyobe within (3) three months from the date of this ruling.
v) the Administrator General is ordered to liaise with Bruno Senkatuka Serunkuuma (first cousin to Kyobe) for the purposes of appointing the customary heir to the late Henry Kyobe to benefit from the estate pursuant to section 27 (1) (d) of succession Act.
However it’s only the family that followed the order and appointed Balikuddembe Kaweesa as the heir of the estate but the Administrator General has since vehemently refused and failed to account for his actions on the same estate. The Administrator General has stubbornly ignored the order and insiders say more transactions were done on the estate even after this order. The delay to respond to the order has culminated into the strategic transfers in which some of the top officials that messed Kyobe’s estate can use their new offices to “PROTECT THEIR GAINS”. Signs show that some of the transferred officials from the Administrator General office have remained the big forces behind this mess and defiance.
