BREAKING: Gen Otafiire Storms Njeru Gov’t Ranch; Manager Arrested

The powerful Internal Affairs Minister, Rtd Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire has reportedly caused the arrest of the manager of Njeru Stock Farm.

ChimpReports has learned that Otafiire yesterday (Sunday) visited the government ranch where he quizzed the farm manager, Dr Carol Wabule on what she was doing at his property. 

Dr Wabule, whom sources said was trembling like a leaf, tried to explain to Otafiire that she was an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture and that the Minister should instead handle the matter with her superiors, a plea that fell on deaf ears.

A visibly irritated Otafiire ordered his guards to immediately arrest Dr Wabule. 

Wabule, a breastfeeding mother, was swiftly arrested on the Minister’s orders before being rushed to Njeru Police Station.

The Minister’s guards told Police that Wabule should be detained on charges of criminal trespass. 

As of Monday morning, Dr Wabule was still locked up at Njeru Police Station. 

Njeru Stock Farm is the only livestock breeding centre for the eastern region.

It also hosts the only Liquid Nitrogen Plant that serves all hospitals in the Eastern Region.

Police officials confirmed Dr Wabule’s arrest but were afraid of commenting on the matter as the law enforcement body is supervised by Otafiire.

The 1,099-acre farm located at Bukaya West Village, in Njeru municipality, is one of the government farms managed by the Ministry of Agriculture which hosts a demonstration farm, a breeding centre and a research centre, among other facilities. 

But up to 504 of the total acreage of the farm has been fraudulently taken over by private individuals.

In 2019, Otafiire, who claimed ownership of 50 acres of the land, explained that he asked the court to throw the government out of the land because he had secured rights from the original owners after the government failed to pay for its lease.

However, a 2014 investigation by the Inspector General of Government indicated that Njeru Town Council got a lease on the land in 1967 and in 1969, sub-leased 306 acres to the Ministry of Agriculture for Njeru stock farm.

History of the land conflict

According to court documents, the parties in the case are George Kasedde and Emmanuel Kukwajju. 

The title to this land is registered in Sala Nabikolo Mukasa and Lebeka Allen Namugenze (both deceased).

A one Emmanuel Lukwajju purporting to be an administrator in respect of this estate applied for a special certificate of title to of the impugned titles that plot 5, without notifying the existing administrators.

On Lukwajju’s impugned application, a special certificate of title to Plot 5 a was issued in the Omutaka Nadduli Kibaale and James Ssali’ predecessors’ names and transferred to Emmanuel Lukwajju using forged transfer forms.

Omutaka Nadduli Kibaale and James Ham Ssali took out a suit against Lukwajju to cancel the special certificate of title since the original had never gotten lost.

Lukwajju counterclaimed against Omutaka Nadduli Ssali and fraudulently titled from the then Deputy Registrar of High Court at Jinja to cancel the original Certificate of Title owned by Omutaka Nadduli Kibaale and James Ham Ssali.

The Deputy registrar’s order obtained by Lukwajju was challenged before the resident judge, Jinja high Court for lack of jurisdiction to issue a title cancellation order.

 The judge set aside the registrar’s order and effectively restored Omutaka Nadduli Kibaale and Ssali’s original title to plot 5 Njeru.

Lukwajju had created other titles out of Plot 5 at the time the registrar’s order was reversed in a bid to defeat Omutaka Nadduli and Ssali’s interests.

The court case originally lodged by Omutaka Nadduli and Ssali to cancel Lukwajju’s illegal title and any subdivision that arose is pending before Mukono Court.

Government lawyers told ChimpReports on Monday afternoon that a hearing date has been sought for this case to enable the court make a decision on the cancellation of the impugned titles that were superimposed on Nadduli and Ssali’s title. 

The High Court judge having reversed Lukwajju’s  order means that the special certificate of the title against which he created third party interests, including that to Hon Otafiire are inconsequential.