Kampala, Uganda: The Anti corruption court in Kampala has charged seven suspected accused of attempting to grab the 120-acre land at Kaazi, a contested scouting site belonging to the Kabaka of Buganda under the Uganda Scouts Association.
The accused who include Barugahare Mujuni Patrick (70), Butumbwire Stephen (70), Mugisha John (85), Musoke Stephen Brain (64), Mununuzi Alex (32), Orwanga Michael Richard (58), and Anyango Francis (59)—face five counts including forcible entry, unlawful occupation of land, malicious damage to property, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
They appeared before the Anti corruption court in Kololo on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
According to the CID charge sheet seen by this publication, the group is accused of storming the Kaazi land on 24th June 2025, with intent to “take possession of land comprised in LRV 1693 Folio 5 [Kyadondo Block 273 Plot 5] belonging to the Uganda Scouts Association, in a violent manner; that is: by collecting an unusual number of people and breaking into the office of the Uganda Scouts Association, entered and graded the said land.”
The prosecution further accuses the suspects of forcible detainer by “holding possession of the land in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace or reasonable apprehension of a breach of peace against the Uganda Scouts Association who is entitled by law to have possession of the said land.”
State investigators further allege that between June and August 2025, the group “wilfully and unlawfully destroyed 4 kitchen houses, 4 latrine structures, 4 water tanks, water pipes, a watch tower, arena platform and trees, the property of the Uganda Scouts Association.”
Why This Matters: The Kabaka’s Rights and the Court Injunction
The 120-acre land at Kaazi (Block 273, Plot 5) is historically significant. It was originally registered to Kabaka Daudi Chwa II in 1923, not personally, but in his official capacity as the King of Buganda, and was leased in 1948 to the Uganda Scouts Association for camping purposes only.
Despite this lease, the land remains Kabaka’s property. When kingdoms were abolished in 1967, the land was taken by the government, and only restored to the Kingdom under the 1993 Traditional Rulers (Restitution of Assets and Properties) Act.
In 2020, a court ruled in favour of the Kabaka, affirming his ownership and canceling any fraudulent claims, a move that was challenged by State Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja, who issued directives aiming to cancel the Kabaka’s title, deregister the Buganda Land Board, and mutate the title to another estate.
But a landmark ruling by High Court Justice Bonny Isaac Teko cleared the Kabaka and Buganda of full ownership of the land as it (the ruling) ordered a temporary injunction halting all such directives from the now-embattled Minister.
What next?
The new arrests mark yet another flashpoint in the protracted Kaazi saga. With a court injunction still in place and the Kabaka’s ownership reaffirmed historically and legally, the prosecutions could be a turning point in safeguarding Uganda’s heritage and rule of law.
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