A Ugandan high court just threw out a case trying to claim land from the national Muslim council. Justice Isah Sserunkuma in Masindi dismissed the suit because the people bringing it, led by a guy named Francis Tuhwerize, had zero paperwork to back up their story about buying the property. They claimed to have purchased a one-square-mile piece of land, known as Ranch 17A in the Bunyoro scheme located in Kiryandongo Muslim District, from a former presidential adviser last year and then subleased it.
The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council showed up with actual documents, proving they got the land way back in 1976 as part of a bigger ranch for livestock projects tied to export markets. They argued that after government restructuring, they kept this specific portion, which someone later tried to grab. Council officials had even pulled records from both the local district land office and the ministry headquarters in Kampala, confirming their ownership.
The court noted that attempts to solve this mess outside of court also failed, because the claimants again could not produce any proof when asked by a presidential land tribunal. The judge finally ruled the whole suit did not even properly state a legal cause of action and tossed it out, reinforcing that you need hard documents, not just stories, especially when going after historical institutional property.
The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council showed up with actual documents, proving they got the land way back in 1976 as part of a bigger ranch for livestock projects tied to export markets. They argued that after government restructuring, they kept this specific portion, which someone later tried to grab. Council officials had even pulled records from both the local district land office and the ministry headquarters in Kampala, confirming their ownership.
The court noted that attempts to solve this mess outside of court also failed, because the claimants again could not produce any proof when asked by a presidential land tribunal. The judge finally ruled the whole suit did not even properly state a legal cause of action and tossed it out, reinforcing that you need hard documents, not just stories, especially when going after historical institutional property.
