Businessman Amos Nzeyi has agreed to surrender 55 acres of disputed land in Temangalo, Wakiso District, to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) which brings an end the 18-year dispute over property the Fund purchased in 2008.
The agreement, reached following fresh discussions between the two parties, means NSSF will abandon an earlier proposal to exchange part of the disputed property for alternative land and instead take full possession of the 55 acres, which are already covered by land titles registered in the Fund’s name.
NSSF Managing Director Patrick Ayota disclosed the development on Wednesday while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), chaired by Muwada Nkunyingi.
Ayota told MPs that Nzeyi had agreed to vacate the property and return the entire disputed portion to the Fund, although the parties were yet to conclude a formal written agreement.
“Two days ago, what we’ve agreed is that he is going to give us back all our land, all the 55 acres of land that we have. The exercise we have to undertake is to do a survey so we know exactly where the 55 acres of that land is,” Ayota told the committee.
He said NSSF would first conduct a fresh survey to establish the exact boundaries of its property before taking possession, noting that the land currently occupied by Nzeyi, including his residence and paddocks, measures approximately 58 acres.
The survey will establish the precise 55 acres belonging to NSSF, with any additional land outside the Fund’s titled property to be handled separately.
Ayota said the agreement would not require NSSF to pay Nzeyi any additional money because the Fund had already purchased the land and holds the ownership documents.
“The cost we will incur is the survey cost and opening the boundaries. But otherwise, there is no other cost. We already own the land. We paid for it, and it is in our title,” he said.
He added that management would provide COSASE with minutes of the recent meeting, endorsed by both parties, as evidence of the understanding as they work towards signing a formal agreement within the coming weeks.
The latest development reverses an arrangement NSSF had presented to Parliament in August 2026, under which Nzeyi was expected to surrender 10 acres of alternative land and purchase the remaining 45 acres he occupied at the prevailing market value.
That proposal would have involved independent valuations by the Government Chief Valuer and private valuers, approval by the NSSF board and the responsible minister, as well as compliance with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
However, Ayota explained that the proposed transaction became complicated because it required several institutional approvals.
Following internal consultations, NSSF management reconsidered the arrangement and concluded that recovering the land it had already purchased was a better option than disposing of part of its property through another transaction.
The revised position was communicated to Nzeyi, who subsequently agreed to surrender the entire 55 acres.
COSASE chairperson Muwada Nkunyingi welcomed the development but challenged NSSF to provide written evidence of the agreement, given the history of failed negotiations and several previous attempts to resolve the dispute.
MPs also questioned whether the Attorney General and Solicitor General had been involved in the latest engagements, considering the legal implications and other court proceedings surrounding the wider Temangalo estate.
Nkunyingi said the committee would continue monitoring the recovery of the 55 acres while treating other ownership claims involving the wider estate separately to avoid prejudging matters before the courts.
The agreement is the latest chapter in one of Uganda’s longest-running and most controversial land disputes involving the pension fund, which has repeatedly faced questions over its inability to take physical possession of property for which it holds registered titles.
The Temangalo controversy dates back to March 2008, when NSSF purchased approximately 463.87 acres of land from Nzeyi and Arma Limited in a transaction worth about Shs11 billion.
The acquisition was intended to facilitate a planned housing development, with the Fund registering the property under six separate certificates of title, all transferred into its name.
However, alongside the purchase agreement, NSSF and Nzeyi signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing the businessman to temporarily retain approximately 104.88 acres containing his farmhouse, paddocks and other developments.
Under the arrangement, Nzeyi was required to provide NSSF with suitable alternative land within six months in exchange for the portion he had retained.
The arrangement was supposed to provide a straightforward solution, allowing Nzeyi to retain his established home and developments while NSSF secured alternative property for its planned housing project.
However, the alternative land presented by Nzeyi did not satisfy the requirements agreed upon by the parties, resulting in a dispute over the Fund’s efforts to recover the retained property.
In October 2011, the two parties attempted another settlement under which Nzeyi would surrender 50 acres, reducing the portion subject to the proposed exchange to approximately 54.88 acres.
In return, he was expected to provide NSSF with 64.5 acres of alternative land.
The proposed arrangement, however, was rejected by the responsible minister, leaving the disagreement unresolved.
In February 2013, NSSF and Nzeyi agreed to refer the matter to arbitration in an effort to break the deadlock.
The arbitration award upheld the principle of a land exchange involving property of equivalent value and suitability. The alternative land was required to be adjacent to property already owned by NSSF, suitable for its planned housing developments and free from squatters.
Despite the arbitration process, the parties failed to reach a lasting settlement.
Between 2013 and 2026, independent assessments were conducted on alternative land presented by Nzeyi. According to NSSF, the assessments established that only approximately 10 acres met the requirements for the proposed exchange, leaving about 55 acres unresolved.
The dispute continued to attract parliamentary attention because the Fund could not fully utilise the property despite holding the titles.
In August 2026, COSASE intensified its investigation into the Temangalo transaction, with MPs examining the circumstances surrounding the original purchase, the continued occupation of the land and the failure to implement the agreed land exchange.
The committee also inspected the property to establish its physical status and understand the extent to which NSSF had been unable to access the land.
The parliamentary scrutiny came against the background of questions raised by the Auditor General over the Fund’s management of its investments and the unresolved issues surrounding the Temangalo property.
On June 30, 2026, NSSF had given Nzeyi a deadline to provide suitable alternative land, warning that it would take legal steps to enforce its rights if he failed to comply.
When the deadline expired without a settlement, the Fund announced plans to seek intervention from the High Court, including an application to secure vacant possession of the disputed 55 acres.
The position later appeared to change in August when negotiations produced a proposed arrangement under which Nzeyi would buy back 45 acres and transfer 10 acres of alternative land to NSSF, subject to the necessary approvals.
That proposal has now been overtaken by the latest understanding, under which the Fund expects to recover the entire 55 acres without paying for the property again.
The wider Temangalo estate has also been complicated by a separate ownership dispute involving the family of the late Mohammed Hassnali Moosa, which claims approximately 366.2 acres formerly associated with Temangalo Tea Estates Limited and has challenged the circumstances surrounding the transfer of the land.
The separate claim remains subject to litigation and is not part of the immediate agreement between NSSF and Nzeyi over the 55 acres.
For NSSF, recovering the disputed property would mark an important step towards securing full possession of an investment acquired using workers’ savings nearly two decades ago.
However, the agreement will only bring the long-running dispute to a practical conclusion once the survey is completed, the formal documents are signed, and Nzeyi physically hands over the property to the Fund.
