M/s Muljibhai Madhvani and Company Limited has come under scrutiny following a petition by the family of the late Kabaka Sir Daudi Chwa to Attorney General Sam Mayanja over new evidence regarding ownership of 945.15 acres of land at Nakigalala and Kansiri Estates in Wakiso District.
The family, through its lawyers, TFB Advocates and Legal Consultants, has asked the Attorney General to halt any proposed government payment to Madhvani and Company Limited for the land until ownership is conclusively established by court.
The petition alleges that Madhvani and Company Limited is secretly pursuing the sale of the disputed land to the government through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, despite ongoing court cases concerning its ownership.
“Our clients do not object to the implementation of any government project. We are instructed by our clients to inform you that our clients do not object to any project that the government may wish to implement upon the land at Nakigalala and Kansiri. However, they oppose the payment to Muljibhai Madhvani whose ownership is highly questionable in view of the fraudulent acquisition that has been demonstrated in detail in pleadings before court,” the petition dated September 18, 2026, reads.
Court documents show that Madhvani and Company Limited is a defendant in a case filed by the family of the late Muwanga Omuwesi over ownership of more than 306 acres at Nakigalala.
The company is also a complainant against the administrators of the estate of the late Muwanga Omuwesi and is a party to Civil Suit No. 0158 of 2026, filed by the administrators of the estate of the late Daudi Chwa. The cases are pending before the High Court in Entebbe.
The petition argues that it would be improper for the Attorney General to advise the government to proceed with a transaction involving the disputed land while the ownership question remains before court.
“This duty of care that your office owes to the government would be violated by the advice to proceed while fully knowing that there is pending court and that the Madhvani title to FRV 45 folio 2 out of which later plots were divided is tainted or at the least highly questionable,” the petition states.
New evidence
The family of the late Sir Daudi Chwa says it has obtained documents that were not previously presented before court and which, according to their lawyers, raise fresh questions about the ownership of the land.
Among the documents is a title deed for FRV 4 Folio 2, registered on August 9, 1932, in the names of Uganda Rubber & Coffee Limited of Nsimbe Estates, Mawokota, Uganda.
The family has also presented a lease agreement dated December 12, 1930, between Kabaka Daudi Chwa of Mengo, acting from his private mailo under PC 9995 and FC 10008 at Nakigalala and Kansiri as lessor, and Uganda Rubber and Coffee Estates Limited as lessee.
The lease covered 82 years at a consideration of Shs1,083,516.
Other documents include an application dated August 2, 1932, by Uganda Rubber and Coffee Estates Limited seeking to bring the 945.15 acres at Nakigalala and Kansiri under the Registration of Titles Ordinance of 1908, as well as Form DAPCB VII, a letter dated September 24, 1992, from the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board to the Chief Registrar of Titles.
According to the petition, in 1993 the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board wrote to the Chief Registrar of Titles indicating that the registered proprietor of FRV 4 Folio 2 was Uganda Rubber and Coffee Estate Limited and not M/s Muljibhai Madhvani and Company Limited.
“It is therefore in accordance with the law to inform you that the repossession certificate dated March 6, 1991, in respect of 945.15 acres under FRV4 folio 2 at Nakigalala Tea Estates issued in names of M/s Muljibhai Madhvani and Company is not effective from the date of this letter,” the letter signed by the then Minister of State for Finance stated.
Court inspection
Last month, the High Court in Entebbe, through Assistant Registrar Rashida Butanula, inspected the disputed 306-acre portion, which contains residential structures and crops.
During the fact-finding exercise, Butanula interviewed several stakeholders, including local council leaders in Nakigalala Cell, family members occupying and cultivating parts of the land, and managers from Madhvani Group Limited.
The administrators of the estate of the late Muwanga Omuwesi, Benjamin Kalumba Ssebuliba and Robert Kayongo, have been involved in a prolonged legal battle over ownership of the 306 acres on Block 374.
Madhvani Group Limited is accused in the case of grabbing the land and allegedly changing its tenure from mailo to freehold in a move the family says was intended to deprive the estate of the late Buganda chief of its interest in the property.
The company is jointly accused with its subsidiary, Kakira Sugar Works Limited, and the Commissioner for Land Registration in the case, which has been before the courts for more than a decade since 2013.
In 2022, the Land Division of the High Court issued a temporary order restraining agents, workers and employees of Madhvani Group Limited from claiming, selling, alienating or mortgaging the disputed land at Nakigalala, Kajjansi, in Wakiso District until determination of the case.
