City lawyer, Custodian Board & Attorney General on the spot over fraud, illegal eviction in prime Kampala property
By Executive Editor
City lawyer, Mumtaz Kassam of Mumtaz & Co. Advocates is in trouble after an NRM historical identified as Omuzana Nakajubi Sophie dragged her to President Museveni on accusation of illegal eviction based on utterances of fraudulent documents over a property on Plot 1, Dewinton Road, Kampala.
The property in question is in leasehold register volume 168 Folio 12 known as Plot 1 Dewinton Road Kampala under the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB).
In a dossier addressed to the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Nakajubi asserts that a consent judgment between 31st March and 14th April 2022 in respect to the court case filed by Lakhan Suhel Gulamali should be challenged since it was signed in fraud or by mistake and that whoever was involved should vacate office for investigations.
Her complaints follow what she referred to as an illegal eviction carried on 06th March 2023 by Mumtaz Kassam.
Nakajubi’s petition
According to the petitioner, her properties were destroyed during the eviction, and that her business, Labella Bar and Restaurant, was locked by Mumtaz’s ‘goons’.
“My boss, the President am sorry to do this because I cannot reach you but people came here using your names and family that you are they one sending them to torture us and throw us out of our premises,” lamented the 94-year-old Nakajubi.
According to Nakajubi, acquired the property and occupied it in 1978 after the former president Iddi Amin Expelled the original owners, Kassamali valiji and Dayambai Nazarali Valijee, who never returned to Uganda for the repossession of their property when Government gave all the departed Assians 120 days to return.
What happened?
On 06th March 2023, a group of people raided Plot 1 Dewinton road and forcefully evicted occupants at Labella Bar and Restaurant. They reportedly also harassed whoever they found in the place, and locked the Bar and Restaurant, claiming that they were demanding rent arrears.
The property for a long time has been in the interest of Ms Mumtaz Kassam and at the moment we are in court battling cases, says Nakajubi.
She said that the property is one of those expropriated properties formerly owned by Kassamali Valiji and Dayambali Nazarali Valijee with equal shares and whiles as they never returned for repossession, records prove that the Government went ahead and compensated the original owners.
However, shockingly the property later got a certificate of repossession NO. 1450 dated 21 March 1993 reportedly issued under glaring manipulation and total disgrace of law by the help of the Attorney General, Custodian Board official and Mumtaz Kassam that caused loss (Financial) to the Government.
The Plot
The property under contention.
According to the dossier, Mumtaz with an uncoordinated documents after working with Mulira and Co. Advocates for some time allegedly got a pseudo person in the name of Lakhani Suhel Gulamali to sue the Custodian Board, Commissioner Lands and Attorney General over the said property.
This was after a reported planned syndicate when Mumtaz Kassam had fronted all uncoordinated documents some of which were rejected by authorities at the time.
During the purported case battle, Mumtaz who was counsel for Lakhani Suhel, a person with no connection to the property reached a conclusion to sign a consent judgment which was signed by all parties involved.
The said consent judgment civil suit No. 961 0f 2020 was before Lady Justice Kazaarwe Olive Mukwaya and drawn by Mumtaz counsel for the plaintiff (Lakhani Suhel), Tracy Ndagire and Mr. Moses Mugisha counsel for the defendants (but both Mumtaz and Mugisha had worked together at Mulira and Co. Advocates).
The property comprised leasehold register vol. No.168 Folio 12 known as Plot 1 Dewinton Road in Kampala was dealt with by the minister for Finance in 1993 pursuant to the expropriated properties Act and a corticated authorizing repossession of the suit property was duly issued by the minister of Finance to the former owners the late Dayambai Nazarali Valijee and Kassamali Valiji vide repossession certificate NO. 1450.
They also agreed that the custodian board no longer has any legal mandate whatsoever to the transfer, allocate, sell, manage, control and or deal in the property Vol. No. 168 Folio 12 known as plot 1 Dewinton road Kampala.
The fraudsters also agreed that the plaintiff withdraws the suit with no orders as to cost, also custodian board and Attorney General withdraws counter claims against Lakhani Suhel with no orders to cost and suit declared settled in full and final settlement as each party bears their own costs.
According to insiders, the plot helped Mumtaz to bring out all her fraudulent documents even those that were rejected by the authority and started claiming ownership of the conflicted property.
Attorney General speaks out.
According to the AG, by law once the minister of Finance issues a certificate of repossession, then no one including himself has powers to terminate it unless through a court redress.
Kiwanuka in March 2021 issued an opinion that bars the finance minister from terminating certificates of repossession. This followed numerous complaints from officers of Custodian Board that many of the repossession certificates are reportedly fake and forged and they had sought powers from the finance minister Matia Kasaija to terminate them.
The contradiction created a rift between minister Kasaija and Kiryowa Kiwanuka when Kasaija hit back that he has powers to terminate repossession certificate on several grounds including forgeries.
“The property Plot 1 Dewinton Road has a repossession certificate and now our hands are off unless matters are settled in court, even if it was issued by error, or fake rather forged it becomes a matters of court to disprove and has powers to terminate it according to the law” Kiwanuka told Second Opinion, an online news publication.
Bizibu defends Custodian Board
Executive Secretary, DAPCB, George William Bizibu says that their hands are tied by the law and opinion given by the Attorney General who is their boss.
“It is true that property has a repossession certificate but regardless of how one Mumtaz acquired it is a question to be interpreted by the courts of law not us. For us we follow opinions given by the Attorney General and that property is no longer under custody,” Bizibu said.
He said that anything to do with fraud must be investigated by courts of law but at the moment the property does not belong to the Government.
Gen. Saleh Intervenes
Following reports that Mumtaz uses the first family names to torment her culprits as mentioned by Nakajubi and the alleged tabling of fake documents, Gen. Salim Saleh who is President Yoweri Museveni’s brother called Bizibu and grilled him over the manner in which he is handling the property at Dewinton Road.
Mumtaz
“I told the property from the custodian board and I have been collecting rent from 1973. I collect on the entire 14 shops which are managed by us Mumtaz property limited. Under the new landlord act if the tenant fails to pay rent within the 30 days then the landlord is free to enter the house,” Mumtaz is quoted to have told Second Opinion.
Mumtaz the ghost landlord?
According to media records, Mumtaz was ranked among the top and senior ghost landlords in Uganda who have collected a lot of money from Departed Asians property claiming to be doing it on behalf of the Government.
The report points out that Mumtaz has duped a lot of money from Government and that during the COSASE investigation on Custodian properties, she was summoned by the then COSASE chairperson Ibrahim Kasozi to appear before the parliamentary committee and answer some queries including the conflicted property on Plot 1 Dewinton road but instead she reportedly disappeared in thin air.
Meantime reports reaching us indicate that another syndicate to grab another property Plot 7 Dewinton road Kampala is in the offing after a drafted consent judgment yet to be signed favoring Mumtaz.
Story first published by Second Opinion days ago.
