By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
The Catholic Church in the Kampala Archdiocese is under scrutiny following allegations that it took possession of a land title belonging to an elderly woman, claiming it was safeguarding it from land grabbers. The woman, Maria Thereza Nakibuuka, a resident of Bbira-Lubanyi village in Nakuwadde, has since died without the Church ever returning the title.
It is alleged that Nakibuuka entrusted the title, which belongs to her clan, Namungoona to Nankulabye Parish in 2012, in an effort to protect it from encroachers. However, she later discovered that the document had been transferred to Buloba Parish, which claimed it had forwarded it to the Rubaga Cathedral Archdiocese Lands Department.
Richard Musajjakaawa, the Namungoona clan head, explained that the title was registered in Nakibuuka’s name because clans lacked legal entities to hold land titles under their own names.
“The clan began using this land in 1922, when the area was still underdeveloped. Over 50 people, including Nakibuuka’s parents, are buried here. This land is the burial site for the Namungoona clan,” Musajjakaawa said.
Suspicions deepened in 2024 when the Church wrote to Nakibuuka, instructing her to vacate the land and exhume the bodies buried there, claiming ownership of the land. The Church also directed tenants on the land to stop paying rent to Nakibuuka, prompting her to alert clan leaders. They tried to intervene but received no cooperation from Church authorities.
“She left the title with the Church to protect it from land grabbers. It’s heartbreaking that she never found safety in the house of the Lord,” said Lukia Nakageera, Nakibuuka’s niece.
Musajjakaawa supported this, stating that Nakibuuka never donated the land to the Church but merely left the title in their custody for safekeeping.
The Church, however, insists that the land was given to the Legion of Mary by the deceased and denies any wrongdoing or land grabbing.
According to Nakibuuka’s relatives, she had vowed not to be buried until the title was returned. When she passed away on Monday, her clan honored that vow by keeping her body at home, refusing to proceed with the burial until the Church returns the document.
Efforts to reach Rev. Fr. Mark Richard Ssajjabi, head of the Kampala Archdiocese Lands Department, were unsuccessful.
The Namungoona clan says they are currently in discussions with the Church and awaiting a response. However, the clan head emphasized that no documents exist to show Nakibuuka officially handed over the land to the Church.
