Through her letter dated September 5th 2024, the Judicial Service Commission permanent secretary Dr. Rose Nassali Lukwago has notified the head of state house anti-corruption unit Brig Isoke Henry that an aggrieved citizen, Mzee Festo Kasajja, has objected to the processing of Administrator General Charles Kasibayo’s name to be among lawyers the Commission is vetting to make judges of the high court.

Nassali’s letter shows that Kasajja has written to the JSC Chairman notifying him about land grabbing scandals Kasibayo has previously been involved in. These include trying to fraudulently prevent Kasajja from enjoying the quiet possession of his 1 acre of prime land in the Kisenyi hub near Owino market.

Kasajja says in his petition to the JSC that Kasibayo has been using his position as the Administrator General to support efforts by notorious Kampala land dealer James Dagirira to cancel the land title yet he was guided by officials in the AG’s office to pay Ugx2.5bn to beneficiaries and members of the late Sendawula Sepuya’s family, which is how he became the registered owner of the land.

Kasajja says that he met all the requirements to become the registered owner of the land and the AG under Kasibayo even facilitated him to get his land title for Kibuga Block Block 12 Plot 556 in Kampala Central’s suburb of Kisenyi near Nakivubo stadium.

Dagirira had been appointed by the beneficiaries of the Sendawula Sepuya estate to serve as their representative for purposes of their transaction with Festo Kasajja. The Ugx2.5bn comprised of money [Ugx1.3bn] for the actual purchase of the land, and the other Ugx1.2bn for the compensation of the bibanja owners and squatters who were living on the land.

The beneficiaries of the Sendawula Sepuya estate, from whom Festo Kasajja bought or acquired the land, were led by Elizabeth Nakalanzi and Gladys Nakimera, two elderly women who are still alive and are prepared to give evidence pinning Charles Kasibayo.

Instead of working with Dagirira to remove the squatters whose compensation was discussed and agreed upon and valued at Ugx1.2bn during meetings involving Assistant Administrator General Mathias Mwanje, the Administrator General Charles Kasibayo surprised all when he allegedly turned around and caused the cancellation of Kasajja’s land title.

After cancellation of his title, which has since been challenged in court, Kasajja was fraudulently declared a trespasser and his land subsequently sold to wealthier Kampala tycoon JB Muwonge who offered thrice more than the Ugx2.5bn which Kasajja had offered. Kasajja says that the Administrator General officials thrice called him to their offices and pleaded with him to accept a refund of his Ugx2.5bn and allows the land to become Muwonge’s.

Mr. JB Muwonge tycoon owns the next larger plot of land along Kafumbe Mukasa road in Kisenyi which he has been trying to very exorbitantly sell to KCCA. So, he needed Kasajja’s 1 acre to increase on the size of his own land for sell to KCCA.

After cancellation of Kasajja land title, the land was transferred to Dagirira and this was after the AG Kasibayo’s agents went to Finance Trust bank and tried to post a refund of Ugx2.7bn to Festo Kasajja’s account. The bank rang Kasajja who told them not to allow anyone to deposit such strange dirty money on his bank account.

From Dagirira, the land title was nevertheless the next day transferred to the names of JB Muwonge from whom it was a few days later transferred to the family company called Nterenfune which has the Muwonge couple as the only two shareholders. For enabling all this to be done, resulting into his deprivation, Festo Kasajja wants Charles Kasibayo to be severely punished and even blocked from ever becoming a judge anywhere in Uganda.

Kasajja also says that officials under the AG’s office who tried to insist on the right thing were instead penalized by Charles Kasibayo, their boss. He gives the example of Assistant AG Mathias Mickey Mwanje who was controversially transferred from the headquarters to go and work upcountry allegedly because he opposed the pro-JB Muwonge chaos which was being orchestrated in favor of Dagirira.

The first step Festo Kasajja, who owns many commercial buildings downtown took, besides dragging Kasibayo to court was to complain against the AG as a person to the state house anti-corruption unit. He accused him of fraudulent and criminal activities while demanding for a comprehensive inquiry into how JB Muwonge came to become the registered title owner of the land which the same AG Kasibayo had previously declared to be his (Festo Kasajja).

Operating under file number SHACU/GEF/184/2022, the state house anti-corruption unit commenced criminal investigations targeting James Dagirira, Charles Kasibayo and John Karuhanga who was the commissioner for land registration at the time the fraudulent cancellation of his title occurred.

So, in his September 3rd petition 2024, Festo Kasajja informed the JSC that Charles Kasibayo was morally and ethically unfit to be interviewed to become a judge because of those ongoing criminal investigations by the state house anti-corruption unit.

He makes it clear that when Kasibayo becomes a judge, people like himself will never get justice anywhere in Uganda. He says that Charles Kasibayo as mere Administrator General has been frustrating the criminal investigations by SHACU through interfering with witnesses and that will become even worse if the JSC ever clears him to become a high court judge.

So in her September 5th letter, Nassali informed Brig Isoke about all these concerns by Festo Kasajja and asked SHACU to help the JSC verify and confirm if SHACU/GEF/184/2022 is indeed a genuine criminal investigations file that was opened to look into Kasibayo’s conduct.

Nassali pleaded with Brig Isoke to get back to them very quickly and in any case not later than 20th September so that Charles Kasibayo’s fate can be decided before the interview process for the new judges goes very far.

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