Johnson Bigira replaced Baker Mugaino as a temporary commissioner in charge of land registration. This followed the dubious suspension of the latter, issued by the former Inspector General of Government (IGG), Betty Olive Namisango Kamya and the same, rescinded by the president.
During his presence at the helm of Mugaino’a office, Bigira controversially cancelled a Certificate of Title to a sizeable parcel of land worth of billions of shillings, comprised in Busiro, Block 855 located in Bussi, Wakiso district. The subject land belonged to an eminent lawyer, Godfrey Lule Sserunkuma and others. Sserunkuuma once served as an Attorney General.
Aged approximately 90 years, the veteran lawyer and another former eminent lawyer, the late Paulo Sebalu, jointly co-founded the prestigious law firm of Sebalu, Lule and Company Advocates. They named it after themselves and now, it continues to flourish, under the stewardship of Counsels Ssebugenyi Mukasa, Joseph Luswata and Barnabas Tumusingize.
The soft-spoken and deeply humble legal mind, Sserunkuuma served under the Kabaka’s administration at Mengo for a long time before resigning on his own. And, after resigning from the law firm that he helped to co-found, Lule formed his own law firm known as Godfrey Lule Sserunkuma and Company Advocates. The same is located along Bukoto Street in Kololo, where he continues to practice law.
While he is deeply humble, Lule is not necessarily a pushover, especially where his rights and freedoms have been messed up with, by whomsoever. Consequently, following what he describes as the fraudulent switching of the above-mentioned land where he holds a big stake, Lule has demanded for disciplinary action against the Ag commissioner of land registration, Johnson Bigira.
To this end, the old man of the law, on November 4th 2025, formally wrote to the Lands Minister, Hon. Judith Nabakooba, demanding for an investigation into the saga. He cites serious charges of abuse of office, unprofessional conduct and irrational administrative action. He asserts those are more than adequate for Nabakooba to base on and penalize the errant Bigira.
The Story
At the center of the purported land bonanza allegedly presided over by Bigira, is Rose Nansubuga. An old lady, Nansubuga stands accused of fraudulently depriving Mzee Lule and others of their right to the subject land. On the way to depriving the Lules of their land, Nansubuga reportedly and fraudulently claimed that their Certificate of Title had overlapped on a separate parcel of land.
She claims the land purportedly belongs to the estate of Adonia Kaaya Sembuya Mukasa, to which she is purportedly an administrator. But Lule asserts that Nansubuga is merely telling lies and that she is merely a pawn in the grand scam intended to grab their land with the curious collusion of Bigira.
As stated earlier, and now repeated as a necessary reminder, this instant scandal unfolded while Bigira served as an acting Commissioner in the absence of the substantive one, Hajj Baker Mugaino who, had been suspended based on the illegal orders issued by the former IGG, Betty Kamya.
Curiously, before Mugaino’s suspension, Bagiire had relied on Section 88 of the Land Act Cap 236 (as amended) and declined to handle Nansubuga’s dispute. The said piece of law strictly forbids a Commissioner of Land Registration from cancelling a certificate of Title based on the ground of fraud.
The same piece of law was cited with approval by the Supreme Court in the case number 15 of 2017, involving Hilda Wilson Namusoke, on one hand, and 3 others and Owalla’s Home Investment Trust, on the other hand. In line with his ruling, Bigira advised Nansubuga to proceed to the High Court, which is vested with jurisdiction, to hear her case and secure redress.
Pursuant to Bigira’s ruling, Lule and his joint proprietors to the subject land asked him to remove the caveats that Nansubuga had placed on their Certificate of Title, for, it had forbidden them from dealing into the same. The Lules’ view was that since the caveats had been issued by Bigira based on fraud raised by Nansubuga and yet the law prohibited him from doing so, the same had abated by virtue of his ruling and were therefore, no longer lawful and needed to be done away with.
But Bigira declined to vacate the impugned caveats and stated that he needed to conduct an investigation first, and inform an opinion as to whether to remove the caveats or not. As the Lules waited for the way forward, in August, 2025, Bigira revisited the issue of cancelling their Certificate of Title, based on fraud!
The above stance, even when in his own ruling he delivered on February 20th 2025, had unambiguously stated that he lacked jurisdiction to cancel the Certificate of Title on the ground of fraud. Therefore, Bigira’s new position was a departure from his earlier ruling issued in black and white for ease of reference, and for posterity, which was counseling Nansubuga to refer his dispute to the High Court that is vested with jurisdiction to handle her dispute.
Possibly, by revisiting the dispute, Bigira turned himself into a judge of the High Court which, he is factually not. He even proceeded to offer redress but in a matter where, in truth, he lacked and still lacks powers to do so. Potentially, Bigira’s second actions were taken outside the scope of his jurisdiction and were dead on arrival. Keep watching this space in relation to these matters.
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Author Profile
- Mr. Stephen Kasozi Muwambi is a seasoned crime investigative writer, majoring in judicial-based stories. His two decades’ experience as a senior investigative journalist has made him one of the best to reckon on in Uganda. He can also be reached via [email protected]
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