Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde; the Candidate for Fountain of Honor Seat who is wanted for conning a senior citizen of UGX1.5Bn

KAMPALA, Uganda: The senior military officer is said to have received the staggering amounts in dollar notes by selling land that he has never owned a smallest potion.

This Website can authoritatively reveal that the land in question actually belonged to an association of Veterans by the time the Gen. Tumukunde sold it as his. The veterans have since sold off the same to former State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Henry Banyenzaki.

“That is my land. I have a title to it. Whoever says the land is his is a fraud star,” is how a surprised Banyenzaki offered when we sought his comment last night. The land measures 26 acres. Its particulars are Plot 5-11 Peninsula Crescent Lane and Plot 1-3 at the same locality.

While selling the land, Gen. Tumukunde is alleged to have told the buyer that the veterans were merely keeping guard of the land for him and that he was now desirous of disposing it off to do other things. But the veterans led by retired Sergeant Badru Matovu have since sold their interest in the property to Banyenzaki.

Senior citizen Hajj Muhammad Majid Bagalaaliwo is the man Tumukunde supposedly took for a ride. A seasoned businessman with shares in Coca Cola, the now frail Hajj aged 80 years plus, has lived with the heartbreak of losing his money for 13 years now.

We spoke to him and he was fraught. He told us thus; “I want the President (Read Court of Last Resort) to help me recover my money from his military officer.  I am an old man. How can a young man I trusted so much end up shortchanging me!” he said before angrily hanging up on us! More efforts to dig deep with him were futile as he jammed to pick our repeated calls.

The Genesis

As fate would have it, it all started with Gen. Tumukunde initiating the deal through a Real Estate broker known as Maurice Nuwagaba. Tumukunde is Bagalaaliwo’s neighbor in Kololo. So the Presidential aspirant must have known the old man’s appetite for prime land already. This could perhaps, illuminate why the former Spy Chief targeted his neighbor above all other people for a quick financial kill.

“The broker approached the old man and told him how Tumukunde was selling a prime piece of land on the shores of Lake Victoria,” insider sources reveal. Not one to pass on a good deal, the Hajji quickly moved to Luzira-Port bell where the land is located.

He wanted to have a closer look and first hand brief of the land, of course. He was elated by the scenery he saw. More so, the land he was supposed to buy is in the vicinity of an island. The island is home as well as a breeding ground for the white birds (enyange).

The old business soul had longed for years to construct an eco-tourism site. He was accordingly overjoyed seeing that his long-held dream was now starting to unfold before his own eyes. He returned home to pick his dear Hajjat for to, herself check out their long awaited dreamland.

Hajji ignores Hajjati’s advice, cash delivered to seller in boxes

Much as the man of the house was overjoyed by Tumukunde’s supposed land, the wife was on the other hand not amused. “Gen. Tumukunde wasn’t in possession of the title of the land he was calling his. What was he selling then? This made Hajjati skeptical of the whole transaction,” insiders elucidate.

But Tumukunde knew his say around this hurdle. “He convinced the buyer to go ahead and pay because the title was being processed. He said it would only be a matter of time before he got hold of his title,” Mzee Bagalaaliwo fell for the trick. After all, the businessman was not in the mood of delaying the deal he thought was too good to pass on.

How he now wishes he listened to his dear wife. Instead he quickly sent for money to be picked from one of his companies known as Transnak Financial Services. A deposit of USD400, 000 out of the purchase price of UGX1.8Bn was quickly arranged by Mzee’s financial handlers. The huge cash was delivered in two boxes at Tumukunde’s Kololo residence lying on the lower side of Kololo Airstrip.

The transaction was reduced into an agreement. We have the agreement dated September 3^rd 2007. Tumukunde is indicated as the vendor as well as one of the shareholders of a company known as Fish Eagle Limited. The other co-director is named as Paul Kuteesa and the other as Oscar Kambona. For starters, Kambona and Kuteesa were practicing law at that point in time with the prestigious Kampala Associated Advocates. Kambona is still one of the senior partners of the law firm while Kuteesa moved on.

The agreement at a glance

Gen. Tumukunde uses booty to ‘educate’ his Children, cool off in UK

On getting hold of the cash, Tumukunde is alleged to have jumped on the next plane shortly thereafter, taking his two sons to the UK to study law. The children have since completed their courses. It is worth pointing out at this juncture that by the time Tumukunde allegedly hatched this transaction, he had just been released from the military prison over statements he had made before on an FM radio station that his masters in the military felt were bellicose.

Buyer heads to Police, Court

To cut the long story short, Bagalaaliwo is now pursuing both legal and criminal charges against the Presidential aspirant. In the Civil matter before Justice Susan Abinyo of the Commercial Division of the High Court, the businessman wants the army General to either hand him the land he purportedly sold him, or refund the cash, of course with interest.

He further seeks for monetary damages for the breach of contract on part of the seller, as well as the interest agreed at the time of sale till Tumukunde finally clears. In the criminal charges overseen by senior detective Elly Womanya, Tumukunde is facing charges of obtaining money by false pretenses, implying he took the money with full knowledge that he had no land to sell.

Seller disowns agreement

On his part, Tumukunde is said to deny any wrongdoing. He even, reportedly disown the sale agreement much as it bears what is believed to be his name as well as signature. Watch this space…