The High Court in Mukono has ordered state operatives, police officers, and local officials to compensate a farmer over a series of constitutional rights violations arising from a disputed land eviction in Naggalama, Mukono District, including unlawful assault, detention, and failure by authorities to act on reported crimes.
The court directed LC I Chairperson of Wanjeyo-Kalagala-Kito Village, George William Ssembatya, and State House Anti-Corruption Unit operative Valentine Okoth to each pay Shs25 million to Emmanuel Mubiru for violating his right to freedom from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The Attorney General was also ordered to pay Shs30 million for police failure to prosecute reported offences, Shs5 million to Kiranda Timothy for unlawful detention beyond the constitutional limit, and Shs1 million to Mukono RDC Hajjat Fatuma Ndisaba for issuing an administrative order without granting a fair hearing.
In a judgment delivered on June 8, 2026, Justice Stephen Mubiru further awarded costs to the applicants and declined to halt related criminal proceedings or restore possession of the disputed land, stating that constitutional petitions are not a mechanism for resolving private land ownership disputes. The court found that Mubiru suffered severe physical injuries during an eviction operation, including harm to sensitive body parts, chest pain, blood in urine, difficulty swallowing, and multiple soft tissue injuries documented in medical reports.
Justice Mubiru ruled that the conduct of Ssembatya and Okoth amounted to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under Article 24 of the Constitution, noting that the assault was deliberate and unprovoked. “The deliberate targeting of sensitive areas like the testes, combined with an unprovoked gang assault involving a grader and trespass, establishes both the necessary severity and intent,” the judge held.
However, the court stopped short of classifying the conduct as torture, finding insufficient evidence that it was intended to extract information, coerce, punish, or intimidate the victim. The dispute stemmed from ownership of a three-acre kibanja in Naggalama, which Mubiru said he purchased in 2017 and 2019 and developed into a sugarcane plantation valued at about Shs225 million.
The court heard that tensions escalated when descendants of the original landowners sought to reclaim the property, leading to competing claims already before the Mukono Chief Magistrate’s Court. Evidence showed that on October 23, 2025, a group allegedly including the respondents arrived with a bulldozer to clear the plantation, during which Mubiru was assaulted. Justice Mubiru found that photographs and medical evidence corroborated the claimant’s account and placed the respondents at the scene.
On the failure to prosecute complaints, the court held that police neglected files under CRB Numbers 893/2025 and 921/2025 despite DPP sanctioning, while some suspects were later used as prosecution witnesses against Mubiru, violating his right to equal protection of the law. On unlawful detention, the court found that Kiranda Timothy was held for seven days without charge, exceeding the constitutional 48-hour requirement, even after accounting for weekends.
“The 48-hour timeline is calculated practically from the point of arrest. The detention beyond the constitutional limit without court appearance constitutes a substantial violation of personal liberty,” the judge stated. The court also found that Mukono RDC violated fair administrative action by barring Mubiru from accessing the disputed land without first hearing him.
Several other claims, including those relating to economic loss, deprivation of property, and presumption of innocence, were dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence or for being better suited to ongoing civil proceedings. Justice Mubiru also declined to issue orders stopping criminal proceedings or restoring possession of the land, noting that constitutional litigation is not intended to determine ownership disputes-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
