In an attempt to evade justice and fail to account for the fraudulent sale of land belonging to late businessman Dr James Garuga, located in Busanga, Kome Island, Mukono District, Peace Kesiime Bagorogoza and city lawyer Agaba Maguru have failed to appear before the Police Land Protection Unit in Kizungu, Makindye Division, as directed in the police summons.
This followed after police summoned Peace Kesiime, Agaba Maguru and three other individuals to record statements in an investigation into the fraudulent transfer and leasing of a 296.74-hectare estate on Kome Island in Mukono District belonging to the late businessman, Dr James Musinguzi Garuga.
Others, including Mugabe R. Rurenga, Nathan Rwankiiko and Mani Stephen, were meant to report to the Land Police Protection Unit at Makindye on Friday, October 30, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., with documents relating to the disputed property for grilling.
The police summons, signed by CP James Kusemererwa, indicated that police detectives were investigating a complaint lodged by Musinguzi Carl Alwyn Garuga, who reported that his late father’s land was fraudulently transferred into the names of Mani Stephen without the late Garuga’s consent.
Bagorogoza and the other fellow suspects were to report to Head Squad 01, led by D/SP Josephine Alupo alongside IP Etiang and D/CPL Lambert Engwenu, for further guidance and statement recording.
However, Peace Kesiime Bagorogoza did not show up at the police station for statement recording but sent her UPC stalwart and staunch supporter, lawyer Peter Mukidi Walubiri, to represent her for fear of being detained for the rest of the weekend.
Lawyer Walubiri told detectives that his client was unable to face police for grilling because of fear and that she had not gathered the strength for the gruelling questioning by the cops.Her counsel assured police that Bagorogoza would be able to come to the police station in person and requested November 16, when she would have had enough courage to face the detectives.
This also follows a case registered by Musinguzi Alwyn Carl Garuga, the son of the late Garuga, who reported to police that Mani Stephen fraudulently leased, as proprietor, the said land to Erunger Property Limited for 99 years on December 17, 2024, while the land was in the names of his father.
The agreement, prepared by Agaba Maguru’s law firm, describes the property as approximately 296.74 hectares under Block 516, Plot 12, at Busanga, Kome Island, Kyaggwe.Alwyn notes that there are no land transfer forms to confirm that the land was transferred from James Garuga to Mani Stephen, adding that there is no way Mani could sell land that does not belong to him.
“There is no evidence that Erunger paid Mani Stephen $3.5m, and there were no transfer forms from Garuga to Mani.”He adds that Mani was too poor to buy the said land from James Garuga because he is a local employee at a local company, earning about Shs3 million per month.
After Mani Stephen fraudulently leased out the land to Erunger, in 2025, Garuga instructed his company secretary, Agaba Maguru, to write to the local chairperson of the area where the land is located to confirm his ownership.
On the instructions of his boss, Agaba Maguru, on January 9, 2025, wrote to the LC1 chairman of Busanga Village, Kome Island, confirming that the land indeed belonged to Dr Garuga.Maguru also introduced one Amon Akatuhurira and Kayoole, who Garuga had gone with to open the boundaries of his land.
Alwyn Garuga now wants to know how one Mani Stephen, who was not even close to the late businessman, came to lease his father’s land, which does not belong to him, to British nationals for 99 years. Bagorogoza, city lawyer Agaba Maguru and three other individuals are required to explain their roles in the disputed dealings, setting the stage for a probe into the ownership of the estate, the validity of the lease and whether the multimillion-dollar payment was ever made.
Records relating to the disputed land reveal a lease agreement between Mani Stephen, identified as the lessor, and Erunger Property Limited, a company whose address is given as 40 Don Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 4TR.The stated premium is US$3,298,365, equivalent to more than US$3.2 million, while the annual ground rent is listed at just US$135, which the agreement says would not be revised during the lease term.
However, Alwyn maintains that there is no evidence that the said money was paid by Erunger Property Company to Mani Stephen and his group. Alwyn notes that search records on the company show that its so-called British directors have never been to Uganda, adding that it is a fictitious company that was used to steal the land where his father had planted pine trees for over 30 years and which was estimated at Shs40 billion.
Alwyn Musinguzi, who is also the customary heir of the late Garuga, says Kesiime and Maguru conspired and sold the land behind his late father’s back and believes such a case involving huge millions of dollars could be the reason why Dr James Garuga may have lost his life under unclear circumstances after he was blocked from accessing medical treatment abroad at the request of his personal medical doctors in the UK.
It should be remembered that during late Garuga’s vigil, Peace Kesiime put the blame on government hospitals for his death, yet Garuga never stepped into a government hospital and was instead denied medical evacuation after Kesiime, who took his passport with a valid UK medical visa together with her son, Philip Musinguzi, tied it up at the Turkish visa handling office.
Bagorogoza is also wanted by police for fraudulently transferring over 5 square miles of late Garuga’s land in Kanungu into her personal names after her husband’s suspicious death.It is reported that all sale agreements for the said properties were in his personal names and that he had initiated the processes of transfer in his personal names.
Furthermore, Agaba Maguru is also wanted by the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court, where criminal summons were issued against him over the fraudulent sale of another 2,000 acres of land belonging to Incafex Ltd, where the late Dr Garuga was Managing Director.This happened on July 16, 2025, while Garuga was still fighting for his life in hospital and was denied medical evacuation to the UK by his next of kin, Peace Bagorogoza Kesiime, yet he had a valid UK medical visa in his passport.
Maguru is wanted alongside Henry Hapa Nganwa over the fraudulent sale and transfer of the said land to their friend, Charles Byaruhanga, who is also an employee of Garuga Properties.Byaruhanga is currently on court bail over the same case.They are accused of fraudulently transferring the land without a company board resolution, in contravention of a Supreme Court order against the transfer, and with no money paid to Incafex Ltd.
Maguru is further charged together with Nganwa for fraudulently appointing himself a director in Garuga Properties Ltd, Incafex Ltd and Kinkiizi Development Company Ltd without board authorization.The incident occurred on August 1, 2026, when Maguru fraudulently gave notice to company shareholders of a meeting to appoint him as a director in companies where Dr Garuga was chairman and managing director, in order for him, Nganwa and Peace Kesiime Bagorogoza to take control of all Garuga’s companies.
The three companies controlled a lot of Dr Musinguzi James Garuga’s wealth, spanning over 25 factories and over 3,600 land titles.
This fraud was thwarted by the Registrar of Companies, who removed Maguru from all the companies after another shareholder, Hon Mathew Rukiikaire, petitioned the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB).Maguru and Nganwa remain wanted persons by police to answer several charges of fraud.
