Former Special Presidential Assistant in Special Duties office of the President Elizabeth Dr Nabatanzi Lugudde Katwe and her husband have amicably settled their protracted legal battle in a move to live peacefully with their respective families.
Dr Nabatanzi and her husband, Samuel Lugudde Kanyike Katwe have entered a consent judgement in which they agreed to share 200 acres out of the 514 acre land she owned at Baale Village in Luwero District.
“The first respondent (Dr Nabatanzi) shall at the execution of this consent, handover the following and all necessary documents for purposes of subdividing off the applicant’s share of land which include mutation forms, transfer forms, a copy of the respondent’s National ID, TIN number and her passport photo,” reads part of the consent judgement signed before Luwero High Court Judge Henrietta Wolayo.
According to the signed agreement, Dr Nabatanzi and her husband shall both withdraw all court cases against each other and appoint surveyors to conduct the subdivision processes and handover respective certificates of title to both.
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The consent judgement followed last year’s case in which Lugudde sued his wife jointly with the Commissioner for land registration claiming ownership of the land at Baale.
The same High Court (in Luwero) dismissed a case in which Mr Lugudde accused his wife of fraud in regards to the land.
Justice Wolayo noted that the same matter came before another court where Mr Lugudde testified that the land in question was transferred into the names of Dr Nabatanzi in 1983, upon which he accused her of declaring him dead before transferring the land into her names but gave no evidence to this effect.
“The fact that the court noted that Lugudde presented no evidence imputing fraud from Nabatanzi after raising it, yet he has always been aware of this transfer means he was presented with an opportunity to adduce evidence on the same as his ground of attack but did not do so as required by Section 7 of CPA,” the judge ruled.
The court decision followed a case in which Mr Lugudde had sued his wife, Dr Nabatanzi, jointly with Lule Dan Paul and Commissioner Land Registration for recovery of land in Bulemezi and cancellation of the title currently in the names of Elizabeth Lugudde Nabatanzi.
Through his lawyers, Lugudde had claimed that the fraud was committed by Dr Nabatanzi in the transfer of the said land yet the same issue had been determined by the Family Court while deciding their divorce case
Justice Wolayo ruled that the issue of fraud being raised now was actually litigated and determined in the prior suit.
In April 2023, Justice Ketra Katunguka of the Family Division of the High Court determined that Lugudde had not adduced evidence to prove fraud in the transfer. She then ruled that Bulemezi Block 34 plot 63 land at Baale rightfully belonged to Nabatanzi.
Lugudde wanted to reclaim the said property on grounds that it was their family land which had their burial grounds.
Records before court show that Dr Nabatanzi acquired the said land at Baale Village in Luwero District in 1983 from her husband Mr Lugudde who gave it to her as a gift for having married him in 1980.
Dr Nabatanzi described the consent as a breakthrough for the good of their family and the six children.
“I am happy and thank my lawyers for the job well-done. We disagreed and clashed but for the good of our children, we needed to bring this to an end. Out of our 45 years of marriage, it has been a whole ten years in and out of courts where I have defeated my husband but today I am happy to say I have given him part of the land willingly,” she said.
She revealed that part of her shared land will be taken by her children; “But the most important issue is that I am free and the courts have ruled in my favour. I have never committed any wrong to anyone.”
