Just hours after apologizing for fighting over late businessman Ivan Ssemwanga’s wealth, his family has now said they also have a lot of wealth.

Speaking Tuesday at the burial of Ssemwanga in Kayunga, his elder brother Sserunjogi Kinene said the family is not keen on sharing the spoils of the deceased’s wealth.

“A lot has been said that we are fighting over Ssemwanga’s wealth but this is not true. We can’t fight over the late’s money. We too got our money….” he said.

The statement was reiterated by Ssemwanga’s godfather, Herbert Luyinda, who, however pleaded with the public not to abandon them just because Ssemwanga is now dead.

“Ivan has made me a name. Everywhere I went, he would call me, ‘Dad’. Since then I was always respected everywhere. I would enjoy free drinks almost everywhere on his account…” he said.

“The first time he took me to South Africa, I spent over a month there when he was taking care of me. He took me around his schools and many other properties. He bought me everything I wanted, saying, ‘Dad, enjoy. These are the fruits of your sweat’. When I returned, he has been giving me $10,000 every year.”

Luyinda also used the opportunity to speak about Semwanga’s upbringing. He said that Semwanga’s father, George Semwanga Pinto Lutaaya died when he was just six years. He raised him and his sibling to the person he was at the time of his death.

Semwanga’s grandfather, Pinto Katula Lutaya Semwanga was a wealthy and prominent businessman in Kayunga.

Semwanga’s mother, Liize Semwanga was also from a wealthy family. She reportedly shared a father with former energy Minister Syda Bumba, who is currently the Nakaseke MP. Ssemwanga, while growing up, also spent time with his mother’s relatives who were predominantly Muslim. No wonder he had constructed two mosques in South Africa, it was revealed.

“At the time of his (father’s) death, Ivan was just six years old. But if that is what God has wished (Semwanga dying too), we shall move on with that.”

Luyinda pledged to take care of Semwanga’s children and those in South Africa, and contributed US$1000 dollars (about Shs3.5m) to the children’s fund.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of ‘Kwagalana Group’, Godfrey Kirumira contributed Shs5m, SK Mbuga – Shs6m and socialite Jack Pemba contributed Shs10million to the funeral of Semwanga.

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Over 20 tycoons who are in court battling a case involving over 200 acres of land allegedly belonging to Gertrude Nakiyimba in Ntende, Wakiso, were absolved of any culpability in land-grabbing by the authorities.

Prominent among the tycoons cited in the alleged land-grabbing is Gordon Wavamunno and his brother Jack Wavamunno; James Musinguzi Garuga among others.

But in a May 6, 2014 letter to the Commandant of the Land Protection Police Unit under the CIID, the then Commissioner for Land Registration Sarah Kulaata Basangwa, said the MRV 152, Folio 12 ceased to exist on February 7, 1962 and that any ownership claims had to be proven by claimants like Ms. Nakiyimba.

‘Whereas it is correct that this land at one time was registered in the names of Daudi Kasimbazi under the title known as Mailo Register Volume 152, Folio 12, the said person is no longer the registered proprietor,’ Ms Kulaata’s letter reads in part.

She added: ‘The title known as Mailo Register Volume 152 Folio 12 was converted to Busiro Block 453, Plot 5 on 7^th February 1962. At that point in time, the MRV title became a closed Register and no further entries could be entered thereon. Closing of that Register is provided for under section 32 of the Registration of Titles Act.’

According to Ms. Kulaata Basangwa, issues of the said land were to resurrect 32 years later, in 1995, when the Administrator General was enjoined as an Administrator of the estate of the late Daudi Kasimbazi.  Interestingly, the name of Gertrude Nakiyimba does not appear anywhere on official documentation, until another  44 years since 1962, when her nephew Joseph Kanaabo claims the title was given to him in 2006.

‘From 1917, the MRV title currently held by Gertrude Nakiyimba does not appear until 2006 when the nephew Joseph Kanaabo claims that it was given to him. And this title only appears after the original administrators of the estate have died’, one of those involved with the matter told The EagleOnline, on condition of anonymity.

‘The above was the ownership from nineteen seventeen to nineteen sixty two. After microfilming and archiving, transactions continued to be registered on this land. I cannot guarantee that the ownership is still the same. Therefore, I advise you to search the correct ownership and the history of any other transaction that could have taken place,’ Ms Kulaata Basangwa quotes a Report issued earlier from the Surveys and mapping Department.

BACKGROUND

The said land in Ntende was registered in the names of Daudi Kasimbazi in 1917 under a title known as Mailo Register Volume 152, Folio 12. Kasimbazi died on 11/8/1959, and was succeeded by Daudi Mukasa, after which the Kabaka’s government intervened and on 30/9/1959, and distributed the said land.

Beneficiaries to the said land included Samwiri Mukasa Kityo Sekulya (108.88acres); Eriyasafu Kanabo Kimanje (65 acres) and 10 acres for the Bibanja holders.

Other beneficiaries included Daudi Mukasa (25 acres); Yowana Kabula (5 acres); and the ancestral land (Butaka) was allocated 15. 35 acres to be ‘controlled by Daudi Mukasa and the heads of Ssiga, Kasolya and Mutuba’.

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The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has asked Basoga living in the diaspora to return to Uganda and invest in the Busoga region.

Speaking at this year’s Basoga Twegaite meet held on Saturday May 27, 2017, in Washington DC, the Speaker said there are huge opportunities back home which require the skills they possess.

“There is need for the Basoga living in the diaspora to step up their efforts of developing the River Nile region and its tourism potential,” said Kadaga.

Kadaga was addressing the Basoga community living in the US during a meeting of Busoga Twegaite, which was held at the Gaylord Convention Centre in Washington DC.

The event takes place every two years under the theme “Creating connections and building bridges – together for Busoga in Uganda.’’

The meet brings together the Basoga and other well-wishers to discuss ways of promoting the socio-economic development of Busoga region. The event was attended by Ministers, Members of Parliament and other prominent Ugandan politicians from Busoga region.

Kadaga cautioned the Basoga living in the diaspora against forgetting their cultural heritage, urging them to learn and always sing the Busoga Anthem.

Uganda’s Acting Ambassador to the US, Dickson Ogwang, hailed the Basoga Twegaite Association for its role in improving the health sector in Uganda.

Early this year the association donated over US $30,000 which was put to the rehabilitation of hospitals in Jinja and other parts of Uganda.

The Minister for the Presidency Esther Mbayo and other Members of Parliament encouraged the members of the diaspora to invest back home in Uganda. The Busoga Twegaite Convention was founded in the US State of New Jersey in 1998.

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