Watoto Childcare Ministries has been dragged to court over fraudulent transfer of ownership of 179 acres of land, which belonged to Eric Kiyuba Njuki Ganja in Kakiri, Wakiso district. Ganja died on January 12, 2012 in the US.
Prayer time at Watoto Church
One of Ganja’s sons, Dr. Frederick Njuki, has sued Watoto together with his brother, Ian Stephen Nsubuga, Nsubuga’s wife, Ann, and the commissioner for land registration over erroneous and fraudulent transfer of the land into the name of Watoto.
Both Nsubuga, who is based in Nairobi and Ann, who is based in South Sudan, work with the UN’s World Food Programme.
Dr. Njuki alleged that Nsubuga and Ann sold the land to Watoto at sh800m. The land is comprised block 143, plots 50, 52, 58, 74 and 79 at Lubbe, and Block 145, plots 35 and 36 at Sekomangwa, all in Kakiri.
Njuki, who lives in the US, is seeking the cancellation of the land sale. He alleges that Nsubuga was not the registered proprietor of the land. In his Will, Ganja left the land to both Nsubuga and Njuki, with instructions for them to establish a farm or any other project that they could jointly run.
Njuki is also seeking an order of cancellation of the transfer of the suit property from the names of Ganja to those of Nsubuga.
He is also seeking an order to cancel the transfer of the land ownership from the name of Nsubuga to that of Watoto. Njuki is seeking the reinstatement of Ganja as the registered land proprietor and a permanent injunction barring the defendants and their agents from interfering with the suit land.
Watoto spokesperson Esther Agwang declined to comment on the suit and referred Saturday Vision to their lawyers, M.B Gimara Advocates.
Isaac Bakayana, a lawyer with M.B Gimara Advocates, said their client bought the land after a survey and search established that the seller (Nsubuga) was the bonafide owner.
In March, Nsubuga and Ann were charged with forging land titles to grab land belonging to Ganja. This was after they had declined to honour two court summons and an arrest warrant.
It was after Interpol got involved that the couple presented themselves before Buganda Road Court and pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of forgery and obtaining registration of land by false pretence.
Nsubuga and Ann were each granted cash bail of sh5m and they deposited a land title. Their four sureties, who included former Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, were each asked to execute a sh1m non- cash bond. The case will come up again on May 23.
Meanwhile, through his lawyer, Wycliffe Birungi, Dr. Njuki has asked Nkoyoyo to return the livestock that was taken from the family farm in Wakiso to his (Nkoyoyo’s) farm in Mukono.
Nkoyoyo is a friend of Ganja’s family and he signed as a witness on his Will.
Documents also show that Ganja had sued Watoto over fraudulent transfer of the land in October 2011.
He said he agreed with Ganja to donate the cows to needy people in Mukono through the Send-A-Cow project.
“We donated 50 cows, some of which were mine, to widows in Nakifuma. The cows have since reproduced and they are over 1,000, which we keep on donating to needy people,” Nkoyoyo explained.
He referred Dr. Njuki and anyone who wants information about the late Ganja’s cows to the Send-A-Cow project.
By Chris Kiwawulo, The New Vision
