By Julius Tukacungura/Umoja Standard
Kampala – Senior Presidential advisor, Hajj Abdul Nadduli has asked the Attorney General (AG) Kiryowa Kiwanuka to take disciplinary action against State House lawyer Sandrah Ndyomugyenyi for misdirecting herself on Katanga land dispute.
In an August 19 letter to the office of the Attorney General, Hajj Nadduli accused Ndyomugyenyi of writing a report quashing a decision of court regarding ownership of the land thereby depriving interest to Walugembe, a bonafide occupant.
“Even after giving a ruling on her actions, the same lady (Ndyomugyenyi) disrespected court when she came out and said she will continue to do as she has been doing because she does not agree with the court ruling,” Hajj Nadduli wrote citing a media report.
He added “Since your office is the legal advisor of all government agencies, I request you to intervene in this matter and have the said officer disciplined.”
This comes after a section of lawyers have backed the court decision that a legal officer at State House is not vested with powers under any law to contradict and or review a court order.
The lawyers say that the High Court rightly ruled that Ndyomugyenyi wrongly cleared a party, Dr Lule Ntwatwa, to take possession of law contrary to the earlier court orders.
Brian Rubihayo said that Ndyomugyenyi, a legal officer attached to State House purportedly set a side and or defied court orders that ruled in favour of Pr Daniel Walugembe regarding ownership of the disputed Kibanja at Mulago Roundabout near Wandegeya.
“Ndyomugyenyi is faulted for making a decision against a court order. The powers of the state house legal department is to advise on matters relating to the state house but has no powers to contradict court decisions or determine land ownership,” said Rubihayo, describing the State House legal department as a law firm.
According to Rubihayo, the report by the state house lawyer ordered the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) and the DPC of Wandegeya to evict Pr Walugembe, a lawful Kibanja owner with various court orders and indeed he was evicted from part of his Kibanja.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Rubihayo dismissed media statements claiming that there are contradicting court decisions saying that in the first case; Albinos Asiimwe, a tenant on the Kibanja sued Ndyomugyenyi and his case was dismissed.
“There was no court order in favour of Asiimwe but for Walugembe, there are several orders in his favour and court based on the same orders to fault Ndyomugyenyi for interfering with matters already decided by court. She is not in court and cannot act as such,” he said.
Court records show that on June 13, 2023, Ndyomugyenyi authored a report in which she directed one Dr Lule Ntwatwa to be allowed to use his land without any disturbance from other parties claiming interest unless court pronounces itself otherwise.
Justice Boniface Wamala quashed the order reasoning that Ndyomugyenyi disguised the directive as a recommendation which was unlawful.
“The directive allowing Dr Ntwatwa Lule to use his land without any disturbance from other parties claiming interest unless court pronounces itself otherwise contradicts this express order of court and is out rightly illegal,” the judge ruled.
Court records show that Ndyomugyenyi convened a meeting, investigated a dispute over land and came to her conclusion different from the findings reached in earlier decisions by court and that she also made a directive that was not based on any orders of court.
Justice Wamala held that Ndyomugyenyi understood to mean that her directive carried the force of law and that it could only be varied if a party went to court which exposed her for not basing on court pronouncements over the same property.
Records show that the high Court in two cases of 2000 and 2017 decreed that the Kibanja in dispute belongs to Walugembe.In 2019, the court dismissed with costs a case in which Dr Ntwatwa and 99 others had sought to challenge Walugembe’s interest in the said Kibanja which was never appealed.
“The worst case scenario was in HC miscellaneous application number 1710 of 2021: Walugembe Daniel Vs Attorney General and 8 others, the court issued an order of temporary injunction in favour of Walugembe against the respondents restraining them from evicting or interfering with his utilization or development of the Kibanja,” the records show.