The long-running legal battle involving embattled land broker Muhammadi Kamoga has taken another dramatic turn after the Entebbe Chief Magistrate’s Court ruled that his trial will continue even though he remains on the run.
In a decision that underscores the court’s determination to keep the case moving, Grade One Magistrate Edgar Tusiime Tibeyita said Kamoga had lost his right to be present after repeatedly failing to appear in court despite being granted bail. The court also noted that two arrest warrants issued against him have gone unanswered.
“The interests of justice require that the hearing of the case continues in his absence,” the magistrate ruled.
Kamoga’s sureties, former Katabi Mayor Kalema Bassamula Kkere and Walugembe Tonny, the LC1 chairperson of Bulega-Mbiru, were unable to produce him before court. After their efforts to trace him failed, they paid the forfeited bail bonds.
Once a prominent figure in Uganda’s property business through the now-defunct Kamoga Property Consultants, Kamoga is facing several criminal charges stemming from allegations of land fraud. Prosecutors accuse him of forgery, uttering false documents, obtaining land registration by false pretences, unlawful eviction, malicious damage to property, and other related offences.
The prosecution alleges that in 2021, Kamoga forged the practising certificate, signature and official stamp of advocate Lorna Nkamwesiga to process land transactions at the Wakiso District Land Office.
Court documents further state that he allegedly prepared forged transfer forms for land on Block 425 in Busiro, falsely indicating that Advocate Nkamwesiga had witnessed the transactions.
According to the State, those documents were later used to facilitate the fraudulent transfer of more than 200 acres of land in Garuga-Bukaaya, Entebbe, into Kamoga’s name.
He is also accused of forging the signatures of businessman Peter Bibangamba before using the documents to register the disputed land. Prosecutors further allege that he unlawfully evicted occupants from the property and caused damage during the process.
Kamoga’s attempts to stop the criminal proceedings have not succeeded. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court dismissed his application seeking to halt the prosecution, clearing the way for the case to continue.
With the latest ruling, the prosecution can now begin presenting its evidence without Kamoga being in court, while the warrants for his arrest remain active until he is found.
