The Court of Appeal has ruled that the demolition of St Peter’s Church in Ndeeba, Kampala, in August 2020 was illegal and has blocked a planned Shs 3.8 billion compensation payment to businessman Dodoviko Mwanje.
In a unanimous decision, Justices Irene Mulyagonja, Oscar Kihika, and Moses Kazibwe Kawumi overturned the previous eviction and demolition orders, citing serious procedural flaws. Justice Mulyagonja, delivering the lead judgment, declared that the eviction carried out against the church occupants was unlawful and must be reversed.
St Peter’s Church was torn down in the early hours of August 9, 2020, by court bailiffs acting for Mwanje of Ephraim Enterprises — an action that sparked widespread public outrage and condemnation from religious and community leaders.
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The demolition stemmed from a longstanding land dispute involving the estate of the late Princess Evelyn Nachwa of the Buganda Kingdom, St Peter’s Church representatives, and the estate of the late Bishop Danistan Nsubuga.
Initially, the High Court had ruled in Mwanje’s favor, stating that the land had been fraudulently registered under the names of Bishop Danistan Nsubuga, Rev. Yuda Kitaka, and Esau Kizito, and ordered the church to vacate.
However, following the demolition, then principal judge Flavian Zeija set aside the High Court’s decision, citing the need for a fresh trial to fairly hear all parties. He reopened the case and directed that a new hearing be conducted.
The administrators of Princess Nachwa’s estate, aligned with Mwanje, appealed Zeija’s order, but the Court of Appeal upheld it and dismissed their appeal.
Justice Oscar Kihika stressed that the retrial must be based on the situation before the original High Court ruling and that any matters related to the land’s sale to Ephraim Enterprises should be dealt with separately.
The case will now return to the High Court for a full retrial, involving all interested parties, including representatives of Rev. Kitaka and Bishop Nsubuga, who had previously been excluded.
The appellate court also ordered that the land’s current status remain unchanged, allowing the Church — which has since put up temporary structures — to retain possession until the retrial concludes.
Importantly, the court issued an injunction preventing the Attorney General from paying Mwanje’s company the Shs 3.8 billion compensation previously approved by Parliament.
The proposed payout had first appeared in a supplementary budget in February 2021, amid intense public criticism, and was later approved by an ad hoc parliamentary land compensation committee led by Veronica Eragu Bichetero.
Lucy Nsubuga, widow of Bishop Danistan Nsubuga, had also petitioned the court to block the compensation, arguing that the dispute was still unresolved. Meanwhile, Mwanje and 18 others continue to face criminal proceedings before the Anti-Corruption Court over charges of allegedly stealing church property valued at more than Shs 850 million and conspiring to demolish the church.
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