The Buganda Road court has commanded city lawyer Agaba Maguru and Henry Hapa Nganwa to present themselves before it or face warrant of arrest for fraudulently trying to take over companies owned by late Dr James Garuga and illegally selling off his properties.
Agaba Maguru and Henry Nganwa were supposed to appear today Wednesday 4th before Buganda Road chief magistrate Rita Kidasa to answer charges of fraudulent transfer of land title and issuing false company statements all related to the estates and companies belonging to late Dr.James Musinguzi Garuga.
Maguru and Henry Nganwa are facing charges of fraudulent Transfer of Title contrary to section 174(1) registration of Titles Act , False Statement by officials of a company or corporation contrary to section 303(1)(a) of the Penal Code Act and Conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 289 of the Penal Code Act.
Whoever, the duo did not attend in person claiming that they were seriously sick and advised by their respective medical doctors to have rest.
Their lawyers KBW advocates told court that Agaba Maguru 66 years is suffering from peptic ulcers and was today scheduled to undergo endoscopic examination at the Surgeon’s Plaza hospital.
They also informed that another suspect Henry Hapa Nganwa was admitted to Entebbe Lakeside hospital after complaining of weak muscles and racing heart.
Nganwa a patient of hypertension diabetes was also allegedly diagnosed with spinal stenosis and moves on crutches.
The medical report further indicate that on examination his blood pressure was 147/92mmHg with heart rate of 81 PM and was advised by his doctor to have rest while taking medication.
Basing on the medical submissions by the defense, the court issued fresh summons and commanded the two appear in person on 13th January 2027 for the next hearing.
Sources close to Maguru told this newspaper that his worry is standing in the dock and facing the media and how the church where he is a lay Canon and Chancellor of North Kigezi dioceses would see him in case of selling off the properties of his long time friend and employer late Dr James Musinguzi Garuga.
The cases before court indicates that on 16th July 2025, Byaruhanga (A3)a resident of Kikajo zone , Masajja division together with Agaba Maguru A1, Henry Hapa Nganwa A2, without valid board resolution and without lawful corporate authority and in contravention of subsisting supreme court injunction dated 17 November 2023 fraudulently executed sales and transfer forms in respect to land comprised in block 1004 plot 2 freehold register hectares LUW 38, folio 3 measuring approximately 849 hectares situated at Bulemezi, Ngoma , Nakaseke district.
The charge sheet also includes that Byaruhanga, Maguru, Byamugisha Ferdinand, Johnny Musinguzi, Peace Kesiime Bagorogoza , Philip Musinguzi and Rowena Musinguzi on the 16th July 2025 at Kampala without board authorization from INCAFEX limited and its subsidiary company, Garuga Properties limited conspired to defraud INCAFEX LIMITED of land comprised in BLOCK 1004 plot 2,freehold register volume LUW 38 folio 3,measuring Approximately 8.49hectares situated at Ngoma Bulemezi In Nakaseke district
Agaba Maguru is wanted in in another separate police case together with Peace Kesiime Bagorogoza which is before Police land protection unit in Makindye to help in the investigation of the said 296.74 hectares of land located at Kyagwe, county, Busenga, Kome Island, Mukono district whose sale transactions show it was sold at the time when Dr James Garuga was still alive.
They are wanted alongside Mugabe R. Rurenga, Nathan Rwankiiko and one Mani Stephen.
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 sent 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 others are wanted 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.
Peace Bagorogoza is also wanted by police for fraudulently transferring another over 5 square miles of late Garuga’s land in Kanungu into her personal names after her husband’s suspicious death.
