Pastor Godfrey Luwaga is accused of trying to evict bibanja holders from disputed land at Katanga, near Wandegeya in Kampala, in defiance of court orders.
Residents say he is working with Makerere University administrators to take over part of the area where Pastor Daniel Walugembe holds kibanja interests.
Luwaga is the director of Nanziza Construction Company Uganda Limited. He also leads the City of the Lord Church in Kalerwe, Kawempe, which collapsed on 8 March 2006 and killed more than 20 worshippers.
Makerere University holds the registered title to the Katanga land. A kibanja is the right of a person to occupy and use land that belongs to someone else.
In 2015, the High Court ruled that four family members and their licensees were bona fide occupants of the Katanga Valley land. Their rights, the court said, are protected by law. Walugembe is one of the licensees.
The four are Jonathan Yosamu Masembe, Blasio Buyisi, George Kalimu and Samalie Nambogga. They have been in dispute with Makerere and the Commissioner for Land Registration over the cancellation of their land titles.
In June 2026, the Land Division of the High Court threw out a case in which Makerere had sought to remove Walugembe from the land.
The court found that the university had abused the court process by pursuing the same dispute in the High Court while an appeal was pending in the Court of Appeal. It ordered Makerere to pay Walugembe’s legal costs.
It is alleged that in 2025 Luwaga’s company signed a memorandum of understanding with Makerere. Under it, he was reportedly given two plots on the Katanga land.
Documents seen by this newspaper show that the plots lie next to Mulago hospital mortuary. They include a car wash, garages and buildings that house shops. Walugembe holds interests in all of them.
Tension rose among car wash workers and shop owners a few days ago. The chairperson of Busia Zone announced a meeting to be addressed by Brig Gen Moses Lukyamuzi, the head of the State House Land Protection Unit. The residents say they were given no notice.
Some residents objected. They claimed the meeting was a ploy to demolish their workplaces without following the law.
Darious Muteesa, who works in the area, called the move an abuse of authority. He said the meeting was meant to disrupt their businesses.
“It is unfortunate that after losing all cases in court, Makerere University is colluding with Pastor Luwaga to evict people who are lawfully in occupation of their bibanja,” Muteesa said.
He said residents had information that the two parties wanted to demolish their buildings. He also claimed that university officials had misled State House officials by using political leaders to trigger an investigation into a matter the courts had already settled.
Samuel Isooba, the chairperson of Busia Zone in Wandegeya, said the situation had become a security concern. He urged the parties to settle their dispute in court.
He said the zone received a letter from the State House unit explaining why the meeting was called.
“We received a letter from State House Unit for Land and Environment led by Brig Lukyamuzi stating that a person (Luwaga) had complained that Makerere University handed him a portion on Katanga land to take care of,” Isooba said.
Isooba said the plot given to Luwaga is already occupied by car washers. They also say Makerere first gave them the area to develop, he said.
He added that the car washers are only caretakers with no documents, but they want compensation.
Kagenyi Lukka, the deputy resident city commissioner for Kawempe Division, said security officers received information about possible violence. That forced them to advise Lukyamuzi not to come.
Kagenyi said the land belongs to Makerere, but the kibanja belongs to Walugembe.
“We are aware of the Memorandum of understanding between Makerere and Nanziza but it was done illegally without consulting the Kibanja holder,” he said.
He advised Makerere administrators to sit down with Walugembe and resolve the dispute peacefully.
