By TV10 Gano Mazima Desk
The Ministry of Lands: A sense of anticipation and unease gripped the air outside the Anti-Corruption Court. But this wasn’t just another busy morning. For some of Uganda’s most powerful men, it was an extraordinary day of reckoning – one that forced them out of their comfort zones and onto unfamiliar ground, all in a bid to stand with one man: Commissioner Baker Mugaino.
Mzee Gerald Ssendawula, Uganda’s 82-year-old former Finance Minister and respected elder, was seen trudging through the morning fog, having risen unusually early to beat Kampala’s notorious traffic. Nearby, the wealthy and usually chauffeured Ahmed Omar Mandela, Chairman of the Mandela Group, shocked bystanders when he zipped past on a boda-boda.
And in the same crowd, Omar Mohamed, a respected public official and businessman, was spotted hastily making his way on foot. Why? Because their own, Baker Mugaino, the Commissioner for Land Registration, was being arraigned for corruption and abuse of office, charges many termed as trumped-up.
The case had been sanctioned by none other than the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Olive Namisango Kamya Turomwe, now widely seen as taking a no-holds-barred approach to fighting graft or advancing other interests, depending on whom you ask. Mugaino, who had earlier been summoned by the IGG ostensibly to record a statement, was instead ambushed, arrested, and frog-marched to court before the media’s cameras. There, he was charged and remanded to Luzira Prison.
The charges? That he arbitrarily canceled land titles allegedly without due process for Tropical Bank, Gerald Akugizibwe, and Namayiba Park Hotel, located in the highly contested and commercially strategic Kisenyi area, particularly Kibuga Block 12, Plots 658, 659, and 665. While the IGG insists Mugaino abused his office and compromised the land registration process, insiders and powerful backers argue the exact opposite. They contend that Mugaino is targeted because he stood in the way of a high-level land cartel.
“My daughter has disappointed me,” Mzee Ssendawula was overheard lamenting, as observers noticed the gravity of the figures present in support of Mugaino. Sources close to the elder confirm that Ssendawula and the late Mzee George Wilson Kamya, Beti Kamya’s father, were close friends, further deepening the sense of betrayal. Mandela, on the other hand, could not hide his fury, shouting into his phone, presumed to be addressing Kamya directly: My son doesn’t need this crappy job of yours. Cut the nonsense, woman!”
Their outrage stems not just from personal loyalty to Mugaino but from a deeper belief that his prosecution is politically motivated or worse, orchestrated to serve private interests masquerading under the guise of justice. Critics point to Kamya’s continued pursuit of Mugaino, despite clear indications from Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka to reverse the Commissioner’s interdiction following a legal review.
At the core of this saga lies a controversial land deal stretching back to January 2023, when Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago blew the whistle on a planned government purchase of 10 acres in Kisenyi from city businessman John Bosco Muwonge. The land was to be used to resettle street vendors, with each acre priced at a staggering USD 10 million, a jaw-dropping UGX 37 billion per acre. The deal nearly went through until Finance Minister Matia Kasaija blocked it over unresolved land wrangles.
As June 25, 2025, approaches, the date when Mugaino will be answering to his bail, many eyes remain fixed on this drama that intertwines power, land, politics, and justice. The nation deserves to ask: who’s really pulling the strings?
