{UAH} Obote family lose claim on land
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Obote family lose claim on land
Mr Akena
Lira- The High Court in Lira has dismissed a case where the family of the late former president Milton Obote sought to reclaim 200 acres of land in Apac District.
Obote's widow, Ms Miria Kalule Obote, sued Mr Charles Akora, a close member of the Obote family, claiming that the contested land was part of the 700 acres belonging to her late husband.
However, Justice Winifred Nabisinde on April 24 ruled that Ms Obote had not raised any valid grounds to warrant the judge to change the court's earlier orders in 2012 regarding the same land.
The judge stated that the earlier court orders would remain in force.
The judge advised Ms Obote to amicably settle the dispute with the other rival clan members.
"For all the reasons I have given in the ruling, I am inclined to uphold all the preliminary objections raised by counsel for the respondent (Akora) and hold that this application be and is hereby dismissed," Justice Nabisinde ruled.
"The only effective remedy to the issues available to the applicant (Ms Obote), if she has reasons to believe that the suit land decreed to the respondent (Akora) is part of her own estate, is to either resolve their case as a family through the alternative dispute resolution methods of their choice to decide the demarcations of the land belonging to the applicant and respondent respectively," the judge added.
She observed that if the arbitration process fails, the widow should file a fresh case in court to determine whether the family inherited land from the late Obote, which then would be demarcated from the one under the trusteeship of Akora.
"This will, in my view, resolve the actual location and demarcation in the original estate for both are beneficiaries," the judge noted.
Ms Obote had asked court to review its earlier orders of 2014 and sought a temporary injunction to stay implementation of such orders until her main application had been disposed of.
The application was supported by affidavits from her and son Jimmy Akena.
In their affidavits, Ms Obote and her son had argued that if the earlier court ruling was not reviewed, they would be at risk of losing the said land.
The duo had claimed that Mr Akora had excluded them from a family meeting he held to discuss the disputed land, leaving them sidelined.
In his defence, Mr Akora stated that he is the rightful custodian of the 700 acres, part of which was being claimed by Ms Obote.
He said he is the trustee of the land premised on the Lango customary laws, which require the eldest son in the family to become the trustee of the land and other assets left behind by the deceased head of the family.
"I am a trustee of the 700 acres as heir to Stanley Opeto through his eldest son Enosi Adoko (my father), not owner.
Neither do I intend nor wish to own it exclusively," Mr Akora submitted.
He continued: "The descendants of Iburaim Akaki and Stanley Opeto, many of whom are in Uganda and the Diaspora, have equal rights of ownership to the 700 acres."
Mr Akora added that the land where the remains of Dr Obote were laid to rest is also a family burial ground of their great grandfather Iburaim Akaki's family and that too is not exclusive to the Obote family.
Akora admitted the attempts by the late Obote to set up a ranch in Maruzi Central Forest Reserve in Akokoro, which borders the 700 acres of land at Abeibuti in Akokoro.
However, he said the political turbulence of the mid 1980s frustrated Obote's efforts to fulfill his plans for the ranch.
The chief of Oyima Clan, Mzee Akbar Adoko Nekyon, when contacted on the matter, said: "I have not yet seen a copy of the ruling and can only make a comment after analysing it."
Akena insists
Mr Akena said he would resist any attempt by any individual or group to take land belonging to his deceased father.
"I will fight to ensure that the descendants of Enosi [Adoko] receive all that they are entitled to. Leave all that was for Enosi to his descendants and that for Obote to his descendants," Mr Akena said on the Oyima Family Network (OFN) WhatsApp forum recently.
Mr Akena, who did not attend the court ruling because he had travelled abroad, said the battle is not yet over.
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