ENTEBBE, Uganda — A high court circuit has convicted a man described by authorities as a notorious land grabber on multiple charges of fraud and violence following years of property disputes in Wakiso District.
Charles Kyagaba was found guilty late Friday of malicious damage to property, fraudulent procurement of land titles, criminal trespass, assault and forcible entry. Authorities said he operated alongside several accomplices who remain at large. High Court sentencing is scheduled for Monday.
The conviction follows a wave of complaints from residents in Entebbe and Wakiso who accused Kyagaba of using forged documents, illegal evictions and violent demolitions to seize properties. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit, working with the police and public prosecutors, arrested him in September 2022 following a public outcry.
According to police records, Kyagaba has been involved in land disputes across the Kampala region since 2001. Investigators said he utilized a strategy of filing overlapping lawsuits, securing court injunctions on occupied properties, and creating fictitious customary land tenants to claim ownership. By 2021, police files documented numerous complaints against him for theft and property destruction, though many previous cases stalled before reaching trial.
Kyagaba also twice ran for public office, losing campaigns for the Busiro South parliamentary seat on the Democratic Party ticket in 2011 and 2016.
Prosecutors focused on several key cases, including an April 2022 incident where Kyagaba and his associates demolished a home belonging to Margaret Kyomuhangi in Ziru Village. Kyomuhangi maintained she had lawfully purchased the plot, but Kyagaba claimed it was his customary land. The daytime demolition prompted the anti-corruption unit to intervene.
In another case from February 2022, a 79-year-old resident reported that Kyagaba forcefully cleared a portion of his three-acre plot and threatened his life.
Court proceedings also detailed an Entebbe dispute involving resident Robin Ssendegeya. Prosecutors alleged Kyagaba conspired with a regional police commander to demolish Ssendegeya’s perimeter wall and attempt an arrest based on fabricated robbery charges involving more than UGX 200 million. A recorded conversation presented in court showed Kyagaba offered to drop the complaints if Ssendegeya agreed to split the land.
Kyagaba’s name also surfaced in investigations into a 2021 eviction in Katabi Town Council that resulted in the death of businessman Tom Odaka, though he was not directly charged in that incident.
Last year, an associate of Kyagaba, Aron Sebagulu, was convicted of forgery and criminal trespass in a related case. Kyagaba himself faced dozens of civil and criminal files, and he was repeatedly remanded to Kigo Prison after residents protested against his bail applications.
Government officials described the conviction as a significant step toward addressing systemic land fraud in Wakiso and Entebbe, where rapid urbanization and rising property values have fueled illegal evictions. Anti-corruption officials said the ruling reflects a broader effort to target fraudulent land cartels that frequently target vulnerable property owners.
