The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has returned to court in a bid to secure full possession of the controversial Temangalo land in Wakiso District.
The land dispute has followed the Fund and businessman Amos Nzeyi for nearly two decades.
In a statement issued on August 14, 2026, NSSF said it has started legal proceedings in the High Court seeking enforcement of an earlier agreement that was reached to resolve a dispute over part of the land purchased by the Fund.
The Fund says it purchased 463.87 acres of land at Temangalo in 2008 from Arma Limited and Amos Nzeyi. According to NSSF, the land is comprised of six separate certificates of title, all registered in the Fund’s names, and the Fund is already in possession of the majority of the property.
“NSSF assures its members and the public that it has initiated further action to secure full possession of all the land it purchased at Temangalo in Wakiso District,” the Fund said.
The latest dispute centres on 104.88 acres that NSSF says were covered by a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the time of the 2008 transaction.
According to the Fund, one of the vendors, Nzeyi, entered into the agreement with NSSF in which he was required to retain 104.88 acres containing a farmhouse, paddocks and related developments and, in return, provide the Fund with suitable alternative land within six months.
However, NSSF says the alternative land provided by Nzeyi did not meet the requirements agreed upon, leading to a dispute over the remaining portion of the property.
“The vendor provided land that did not meet the requirements of the MOU and resisted the Fund’s efforts to take possession of the remaining 104.88 acres. The Fund sought to recover the 104.88 acres, and a dispute arose,” NSSF said.
The Fund says attempts were made to resolve the matter without litigation. In October 2011, NSSF and Nzeyi reportedly reached an understanding under which Nzeyi would retain 50 acres and reduce the land for swap to 54.88 acres.
Nzeyi subsequently undertook to provide 64.5 acres to the Fund, but the proposed arrangement was rejected by the then Minister responsible for the matter.
In February 2013, the two sides agreed to refer the dispute to arbitration.
The arbitration process subsequently upheld the original Memorandum of Understanding and the position later negotiated by the parties. NSSF says the award required Nzeyi to provide land of equal size and suitable for the Fund’s intended housing development, adjacent to land already in its possession and free from squatters.
“From 2013 to date, after two independent valuations of the suitability of the alternative land available by Mr Nzeyi, the only suitable land available for the swap is 10 acres,” the Fund said.
With the dispute unresolved, NSSF says it issued Nzeyi with an ultimatum in June 2026, requiring him to provide suitable alternative land by June 30.
The deadline passed without a resolution, prompting the Fund to move back to court.
“Following the expiry of the ultimatum, the Fund has commenced the process of applying to the High Court for the execution of the terms of the land swap by seeking the eviction of Mr. Nzeyi from the 55 acres which is part of the 463 acres it had already purchased in 2008 and transferred into its names,” NSSF said.
The latest court action adds a new chapter to one of Uganda’s most politically charged land controversies.
The Temangalo land transaction first attracted national attention in 2008 when NSSF purchased hundreds of acres from businessman Amos Nzeyi and his business partner, former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, in a deal reported at about Shs11 billion. The transaction triggered a parliamentary investigation, with questions raised over the manner in which NSSF procured the land and whether the Fund obtained value for money.
The controversy resurfaced years later when members of the family of Muhammad Hassanali Moosa, former owners of Temangalo Tea Estate, claimed that part of the land had belonged to their family before they were expelled from Uganda during Idi Amin’s regime.
The family petitioned the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters in 2018, alleging that Nzeyi had fraudulently acquired the disputed 366 acre portion before selling it to NSSF. Nzeyi denied wrongdoing and maintained that he had acquired the land from former Uganda Development Bank managing director Abbas Mawanda.
The land inquiry also heard allegations concerning documents used in the acquisition and transfer of the property. Mawanda, who was identified as the person from whom Nzeyi acquired the land, disputed some of the documents presented in relation to the transaction.
The legal history surrounding the land is equally complex.
In 2016, Temangalo Tea Estates Limited sued Nzeyi and NSSF, among others, seeking recovery of approximately 366 acres, eviction and other remedies. In November 2019, the High Court Land Division dismissed the case, ruling that the claim had been filed outside the statutory limitation period. Justice John Eudes Keitirima held that the alleged cause of action dated back to 1993 and that the suit filed in 2016 was therefore time barred.
The matter did not, however, completely disappear. NSSF’s 2024 integrated annual report stated that Temangalo Tea Estates Limited had lodged an appeal against the High Court decision, although the appeal had not yet been fixed for hearing at the time covered by the report.
For NSSF, the Temangalo property remains a major investment rather than simply a piece of disputed land.
The Fund has been developing plans for a large mixed use affordable housing project on the 463.87 acre property. NSSF says the project is expected to contain approximately 3,500 residential units together with commercial spaces, schools, healthcare facilities, social amenities, roads, electricity, water and sewage infrastructure.
The first phase comprises 550 units, including bungalows, townhouses, villas and apartments.
The renewed legal action therefore comes at a time when NSSF is seeking to unlock the value of the Temangalo property for its members through housing development.
The Fund has now made it clear that it intends to pursue the matter to its conclusion and obtain physical possession of every portion of the land it says it legally purchased.
“NSSF reaffirms its commitment to vigorously protecting the interests of its members, as well as its ownership rights and possession of the land at Temangalo,” the Fund said.
