UGANDA, Wakiso | Real Muloodi News | Alleged serial land fraudster, Charles Kyagaba has finally been detained by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in Entebbe on suspicion of causing malicious property damage in the Wakiso District.
Kyagaba was detained on September 6, 2022, and later appeared before Stella Maris Amabilis, the Chief Magistrate of Entebbe.
Charles Kyagaba is accused of conspiring with three other people who are still at large to illegally demolish an elderly woman’s home.
The victim is the tenant of Catholic Church land in Ziru, Entebbe Municipality.
The other suspects are Komakech, Wasswa and Benon Kabuusu. Kyagaba and his allies allegedly destroyed Margaret Kyomuhangi’s home saying that she had constructed it on his land.
Furthermore, it is claimed that Kyagaba has been using counterfeit court documents to conduct fraudulent land deals in Entebbe for a long time.
Investigators with the State House Anti-Corruption Unit of the Police claim that the accused committed the claimed offence on April 23 2022.
Investigators proved that the land belonged to the Catholic Church and that it was occupied by several people, including Kyomuhangi, who acquired her portion from Queen Mary Nayiga of the same region.
According to the prosecution, Kyagaba claimed that Nayiga had previously given Kyomuhangi the land in question before she sold it to him as payment for helping her remove trespassers from the land.
The prosecution’s staff determined that this assertion was untrue.
“Kyagaba and his workers forcefully demolished Kyomuhangi’s house with the view of chasing her away from her kibanja, claiming that she acquired it fraudulently, which was not the case,” reads the prosecution statement in part.
Kyomuhangi complained to the Police in Entebbe, but it is claimed that no one helped her because Kyagaba allegedly colluded with several police officials.
Kyagaba’s Infamous History
This is not the first time Charles Kyagaba has been accused of bringing pain and rendering many in Wakiso District and Kampala City homeless and landless, especially in Entebbe.
Real Muloodi News has from 2021 to recent warned prospective land buyers and owners of cases surrounding Kyagaba. His victims have constantly sounded warnings against him, claiming that with the help of some people in high places they have been unjustly lost their land through endless document forgeries, land frauds and land grabbings.
One such case involves Koseya Buule, a 79-year-old inhabitant of Buzzi Village in Namulanda Parish. After losing his three-and-a-half acre land, Buule is crushed.
Buule, his wife Mary Buule, and their son Hannington Kizito claim that Charles Kyagaba’s problems started in 2005 when the stranger first tried to take 1.5 acres of their land.
For more than 50 years, Buule has resided on the same property.
Buule later found out that the stranger was Charles Kyagaba, who he claims assaulted him, slashed some of his land, and threatened to kill him if he tried to stop their activity.
Buule immediately reported trespassing and damaging property to the Kisubi police station, but after getting no help, he went to Kampala metropolitan south regional headquarters at Katwe, but again was not successful.
Following a stroke, Buule is currently unable to move or speak coherently. His family asserts that the stroke was a direct result of the stress brought on by the seizure of his farm and the ensuing resentment he felt against the police and the legal system, from which he unsuccessfully sought redress.
The inhabitants of Buzzi Village, meanwhile, claim that they are scared of Kyagaba because he has vowed to fight anyone who backs Buule.
Kizito claims that Kyagaba has already sold more than 40 people the land in little sections. 50 by 50 feet is the largest he has sold; the others are 30 x 40 feet, 25 x 30 feet, or 40 x 40 feet. The majority of the land purchasers have put permanent homes or are developing them.
“Kyagaba is powerful. Sometimes you go to report him to a police station and you find him chatting with the OC or DPC of the area. There are times when you report to the police and he gets to know all you have told the police even before you reach your home. He calls laughing at you. We are helpless,” Kizito says.
It was also allegedly said that Kyagaba controls the lands office and has the authority to provide land records from Uganda’s pre-independence era.
Additional Victims
The Inspector General of Police Okoth Ochola authorised an investigation into Kyagaba activities in April of last year as a result of many complaints.
According to a preliminary assessment by Charles Mutungi, head of the Police Land Protection Unit, Kyagaba fabricates claims and puts them into situations designed to trick the legal system.
“Kyagaba creates people. The claimants are never seen in some cases but he succeeds in securing court injunctions. During our investigations, we summon people or go to the ground but the claimants do not exist. He explores the loophole that magistrates or judges do not go on the ground while giving orders. Many people are suffering from non-existing claimants,” Mutungi explained to Uganda Radio Network.
According to Uganda Radio Network, Charles Kyagaba began his career as a rights advocate for Bibanja holders. However, police investigations reveal that he creates the Bibanja holders by grabbing land and then selling it to low-income earners in very small parcels of around 20 by 30 ft, 25 by 30 ft, and 50 by 50 ft. People who unintentionally purchase these tracts of stolen land become the people he utilises as interested parties whenever there is a case.
Daily, several individuals come in to report or follow up on concerns regarding the enigmatic seizure of their property by individuals they do not know. Most of the complainants are unable to explain how Charles Kyagaba came to be interested in their property yet they find him involved.
Neither on the paperwork used to acquire the land nor on those that date back to before Uganda gained its independence does his name appear.
Many persons who got court summonses from unidentified litigants eventually discovered that the person suing was Charles Kyagaba and that he was claiming ownership of their property. Given that new lawsuits and police cases keep coming their way, it is surprising that the individuals who have won the proceedings brought against them still do not have access to or utilise their land.
Charles Kyagaba is a mercenary, according to law enforcement, but many who have seen him in action contend that he is even more important than the government.
For this matter, it was of explicit importance that Kyagaba’s arrest was timely following many years of igniting fear in his victims who now thought that no one could come to their rescue and fight such injustice.
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