The Buganda Kingdom has secured a temporary legal victory in a heated dispute over Kaazi land—a sprawling 350-acre plot along the shores of Lake Victoria.
On Friday, July 18, the High Court in Kampala stepped in to stop State Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja, from enforcing controversial orders that aimed to strip the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, of his ownership of the land. The Minister had claimed the land belonged to descendants of a former king, Ssekabaka Daudi Chwa, and not to the Kingdom.
Justice Boniface Isaac Teko sided with the Kingdom, issuing an injunction to freeze the minister’s directives until the full case is heard in court.
The disputed land has a deep and complicated history. Once leased to the Uganda Scouts in 1948, it was confiscated during the abolition of monarchies in 1967 and later returned to the Kabaka under a law passed in 1993 to restore cultural institutions’ assets.
Buganda’s legal team argued that Minister Mayanja’s actions were not only illegal but also an attack on the Kingdom’s historical rights. They cited a 2020 court ruling that had already confirmed the Kabaka’s ownership of the land.
Following the court ruling, Buganda’s Minister for Lands and Housing, Owek. David Mpanga, welcomed the decision and warned against future attempts to undermine the Kingdom’s legal rights.
“We will continue to defend the Kabaka’s land through the courts,” Mpanga said firmly.
While this ruling offers the Kingdom temporary relief, the broader legal battle is far from over. The final verdict will have lasting implications—not just for Buganda, but for how cultural land rights are respected in Uganda today.
