UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | Sulait Ssemakula, the owner of Sema Property Consultants, has been released on bond from Luzira prison where he had been remanded all this while after being accused of destroying Hellena Namazzi’s property.
Ssemakula, represented by his lawyer Robert Mackay, was granted bail on 24 January, 2022 by Kira Court Chief Magistrate Roseline Nsenge, after posting a USh5 million cash bond and a USh15 million surety bond.
“The accused is hereby directed to deposit his passport in court,” the magistrate ordered.
Four friends and family members who are acting as sureties for the accused, Nasir Nsubuga, Aramathan Mukiibi, and Kefas Kayanja, signed the non-cash bond for USh15 million.
Ketty Basutta, the resident state attorney, informed the court that the case is still under investigation.
Charges
Ssemakula is charged with three counts of intentional property damage and one count of conspiracy to conduct a felony.
The accused has subsequently refuted the allegations.
According to Sections 335 (1) and 2 (a) of the Penal Code Act, the maximum punishment for the crime of malicious property damage is life in prison, and the maximum sentence for the crime of conspiracy to commit a felony is seven years in prison.
Ssemakula, 52, a businessman, is a resident of Kiwatule, Nakawa Division, Kampala, according to the charge sheet.
Allegations
The prosecution claims that on December 14, 20, and 28, last year, at Bulooli Zone Namugongo in Wakiso district, Ssemakula and others still at large wilfully and unlawfully damaged trees and a concrete pole fence belonging to Namazzi.
Background
Ssemakula was detained a fortnight ago by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in collaboration with the Police.
His business, SEMA Property Consultants, buys and sells land.
Namazzi and Ssemakula are fighting over four and a half acres of land in Buloolo, Namugongo, Kira municipality, Wakiso District.
According to court filings, Namazzi settled on the land in 1956. She originally purchased one acre from Erisa Musoke and then purchased another three and a half acres.
However, the individual who was assisting her in obtaining a land title was killed during the liberation war in 1986.
The property issue began in 2000, when Namazzi’s neighbour, Banada Kayondo Kiwanuka, claimed the title and allegedly sold it to Ssemakula.
Namazzi and Semakula have been involved in judicial fights for the land since then.
Namazzi, on the other hand, was taken aback when her property was damaged while the lawsuit was still being resolved.
According to Namazzi, the demolition of her property on December 28, 2022, violated lands minister Judith Nabakooba’s edict prohibiting evictions over the holiday season.
According to the preliminary police investigation, there is no record of the property transfer at the Wakiso lands office.
The case was postponed to February 9, 2023, by the magistrate.
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