KAMPALA, Uganda:Recently (March 9th2017 to be exact), close to 250 people from Nabiika village, Kyamutakasa, Nakaseke parish, led by their area MP of Nakaseke South, Paulson Kasana Luttamaguzi, invaded Parliament seeking to meet Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
They wanted her to intervene and stop, a one Edwin Karugire, purportedly the first family son-in-law along with ‘his’ policemen and soldiers, from evicting 500 families from over 900 acres of land. “President Museveni’s son-in-law, Edwin Karugire, has been accused by villagers in the central district of Nakaseke of trying to evict them from land in 25 villages,” announced one of the mainstream Dailies.
The MP Luttamaguzi proceeded to raise the matter before Parliament the following day, revealing that a group of individuals, with the help of security officers, descended on some of the villages and demolished houses. Kadaga directed government to table a report on the matter the following Tuesday.
Even when Karugire vehemently denied knowledge of the said saga thus; “I do not know a company called SPA and I cannot and do not order evictions because I am a judicial officer. I am engaged in private legal practice. I have not grabbed, seized, taken, sold, bought or in any manner dealt with any land in Nakaseke district or its environs,” the media and other leaders maintained the accusations.
According to the victims of this land grabbing epic, police never seemed interested in helping them. “We have reported them to the police land protection unit on several occasions but nothing has been done. They come to our villages with armed army and police officers and have fenced off our gardens. They even have the audacity to brag that they are “big” people,” one of them, Mohamed Serwagi, cried.
Another resident, Haawa Naluwu, said it was unfair for them to be evicted from their land without being given options for compensation or relocation to different land. “We have been told for the last two years that government wants to evict us and that we should first go and register at the district yet we have stayed on this land for decades. I thought we, the people, are government.”
The story
About two years ago, a one Chris Rugali sought to buy land for farming purposes. Also Southern Sudan President Salvar Kiir’s henchman, Chris sought brokerage from highly connected people who could as well peddle influence just in case. However, he landed in the wrong hands of Geoffrey Kalugira, the proprietor of Route 256 Bar in Kololo.
A Muganda born of a Muhaya mother, Kalugira is a total orphan who was ‘adopted,’ raised and helped through by Gen. Henry Tumukunde, the current Security Minister of country Uganda. They have however, fallen out over what the General reportedly cited as misusing his name. Kalugira shot to ‘fame’ when the First Son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba started patronizing his bar.
With Muhoozi on his call list, plus his name rhyming in chorus with that of the first family son-in-law Edwin Karugire, Kalugira’s bar was and still is, mildly seen as a first family project cum ‘first citizens’ mess.’ Policemen and army officers started frequenting the place in hope of hobnobbing with people in the center of ‘things.’
Among such policemen are Nixon Agasirwe and Jonathan Baroza, the all-powerful Special Operations Unit commandant and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura’s Personal Assistant (PA) respectively.
With both personally known by the IGP and the First Son (hitherto the elite Special Forces Command boss), the sky turned no-longer the limit for both young, filthy wealth police officers. Seated with Nixon sipping on his Double Black and Baroza galloping on Tusker Malts, the teetotaler Kalugira would introduce and ‘read’ them several deals, good and bad combined.
“Route 256 doubles as the operational command center of the Uganda Police Force. With the full capacity to influence the IGP, they decide who is transferred where, who should be sat onkatebe, which company to get which contract and who should access which big shot,” explained an informed senior police officer.
A story is told, of how CP Elias Kasirabo, the hitherto VIPPU (Very Important Police Protection Unit) commandant was verbally fired and sat onKatebe. Reason? He had been cited with MK (as Muhoozi is lightly known). That Muhoozi in his status is among Kasirabo’s involuntary ‘clients’ did not count. Other such victims of the Route 256 two ‘bad-boys’ include CP James Mushabe aka Katonyerera, SCP Aguma Joel, ACP Emmanuel Muhairwe, SCP Charles Kataratambi, AIGP John Ndugutse and ACP Boaz to mention but a very few.
The Karugire version
With this pair of powerful police officers, Kalugira has cracked all tribes of deals. Whereas he’s in charge of soliciting the deals, Baroza pass directives to respective DPCs or RPCs depending on which region the deal is placed whereas Nixon handles the deployment. This gives credence to Nakaseke residents’ complaints thus; “We have reported them to the police land protection unit on several occasions but nothing has been done.”
In the Nakaseke saga, the willing buyer, Chris Rugali reportedly parted with a staggering Shs800M and a Toyota Land Cruiser V8 of UAR series. With their high connection after meetings at Route 256, Rugali was, and to a certain extent, is still convinced that he will secure the contested land titles. In the process of grabbing this land, the residents’ chairman, a one Ssebalamu was arrested and detained at Jinja Road Police station. From here, he claims, he was tortured into signing ‘sale’ agreements.
After him signing, the trio was convinced the land was now in their hands. Little they know that the residents were an organized association. Ssebalamu communicated the horror through which he signed and asked them (his association members) to stick to their guns, and hence the epic.
The same trio (Nixon-Baroza-Kalugira) intentionally created and maintained the assumed stance by the Nakaseke residents, public and the media thatEdwin Karugireis the person in the center of the land scandal. Seeing how vehemently he denied knowledge of the same, we went down to work and here, we get back report that it’s KA-LU-GI-RA not KA-RU-GI-RE in the driver’s seat of it all, with the help of police, thanks to his ‘accomplices’ in Baroza and Nixon.
Catch you in Criminal Infiltrated Police (CIP) Records Part IV.
Author Profile
- Stanley Ndawula is a two and a half decades’ seasoned investigative journalist with a knack for serious crimes investigations and reporting. He’s the Founding Editorial Director and CEO at The Investigator Publications (U) Limited
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