Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko was last month dragged to court over allegations of selling a plot of land that was later discovered to be a road reserve.
Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust dragged Mr Nsereko and the Kampala District Land Board to the High Court- Commercial Division, for selling them a piece of land well knowing it was a gazetted road reserve.
According to the suit, the organisation purchased the said land located at plot 8 Bat Valley Crescent, Kampala, from Mr Nsereko at a whopping Shs 800m in April 2014.
And according to the sale agreement attached in the suit, the money was paid in full to Mr Nsereko who assured the buyers that the land was free of any encumbrances.
The wildlife preservation agency says that they only discovered the hiccup on August 5, 2015, after Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) denied their application to develop the land, on grounds that there was a planned and an existing road on the same land.
The organisation states that Nsereko is likely to have illegally and unlawfully created a title for the land and should therefore pay them for their losses.
However, in his defence, the Kampala Central legislator argued that he sold off the land, in the same condition and state that he acquired it from Kikonyongo Investments Limited. Nsereko says the buyers were well aware of the same conditions relating to the transaction as per the agreement.
The MP states that the alleged failure to develop the land has nothing to do with the authenticity of the title or ownership, but rather described it as ‘technical approvals that are within the owners’ power to seek and obtain!’
Nsereko said that the suit claim is misdirected to him, and advised the plaintiff to instead sue KCCA and the 2nd defendant (the Kampala District Land Board) since it is the custodian of government land in the city.
“The fact that the plaintiff acquired title to the land on 4th June, 2014 makes the present claim an afterthought,”Nsereko’s defence reads in part.