Court dismisses land case against ex-IGP Oryema widow

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A court in Gulu city has dismissed a case in which four siblings accused their mother of mismanaging the property of the late Inspector General of Police (IGP) Lt. Col. Wilson Erinayo Oryema, ending a 14-year court battle.

In a ruling dated May 13, 2024, Justice Phillip Odoki ruled that at the time Gertrude Oryema Auma sold 3,700 acres to Beatrice Odongo Achola, it was not part of the estate of the late Oryema.

“The Plaintiffs’ suit against the Defendants is hereby struck out with costs to the defendants. A declaration is hereby issued that Achola is entitled to a transfer of 3,700 acres out of the land into her name and a quiet enjoyment thereof,” Odoki ruled.

The land is in LRV 778, Folio 23 land at Purongo, Kilak County, in Acholi.

The plaintiffs are Mary Onen, Elizabeth Oryema Atim, William Oryema, and Nancy Wilson Oryema while the defendants include Auma, Achola, Charles Otema Awany, and the Administrator General.

The judge issued a permanent injunction, restraining plaintiffs and any persons deriving interest from them from laying further claim of right on the 3,700 acres of the land which was purchased by Achola from Auma at shillings 1.1 billion.

Odoki ordered that Onen and Atim bear the costs of the suit, saying it was because of their actions that Achola was not able to register the land in her name.

“No evidence was adduced by the plaintiffs to defeat the equitable interest of Achola. Although the plaintiffs contended that Achola bought the land when it was a subject of litigation, no evidence was adduced to prove the same,” he observed.

The court heard that Auma handed over to Achola the transfer forms, mutation forms, and the special certificate of title to enable her to curve off her interest.

However, the transfer process into her name was frustrated by the decree of the court, which ordered that the special certificate of title for the land, which was in the name of the Achola, be cancelled.

When the special certificate of title in the name of Achola was cancelled, the certificate of title for the land was registered in the name of the Administrator General.

The judge rejected the allegation by the plaintiffs that Achola was warned by the LC1 chairperson of the area Constantine Ocaya not to purchase the land and that she colluded with Odong Robert P’ Duny to remove the caveat placed on the land, for lack of evidence.

Odoki said it is a settled position of the law that a contract of sale of registered land is not perfected until when the title is transferred into the name of the purchaser.

He, however, said that failure to transfer the land into the name of the purchaser does not affect the contract of sale.

“Before the transfer, the buyer under the contract acquires an equitable interest in the land. The equitable rights of the purchaser are good against the whole world, except a bona fide purchaser for value,” the judge noted.

Background

In 2006, Auma was granted letters of administration by the High Court to administer the estate of the late Oryema.

According to court documents, upon being granted the letters of administration, Auma purported to sell part of the land to Robert Odong P’Duny without the knowledge and/ or consent of the other beneficiaries of the estate.

Upon learning of the sale, Auma placed a caveat on the certificate of title of the land in 2007 to protect the interest of the beneficiaries. In 2009, during the subsistence of the caveat, Auma purportedly sold 3,000 acres of the land to Charles Otema Awany.

This prompted Onen and Atim to institute a suit against Auma in 2010, claiming that she was mismanaging the estate of the late Oryem. The suit has since been dismissed after the court found that the property did not form part of the estate of the deceased.

Who was Oryema?

Oryema who died in 1977 was Uganda's first IGP (1964–1971), Minister of Land, Mineral, and Water Resources (1971–1974), and Minister of Land, Housing, and Physical Planning (1974–1977).

In February 1977, Oryema, together with Archbishop Janani Luwum and Interior Minister Charles Oboth Ofumbi, is generally accepted as having been murdered by the security forces of the government of President Idi Amin.