Makerere University Urged to Drop Costly Katanga Land Litigation

Makerere University has spent more than Shs 1 billion pursuing a legal battle over its disputed Katanga land, prompting parliament to advise the institution to consider negotiating compensation or alternative land from the government rather than continuing with costly litigation.

Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Central Government, university secretary Yusuf Kiranda explained that the Katanga dispute had proved particularly expensive due to legal costs linked to the high value of the contested property. Kiranda noted that the university pursued the long-standing dispute to protect its registered ownership while challenging the rights of occupants recognized by the courts.

Committee chairperson Patrick Nsamba Oshabe questioned whether continued litigation offered value for money, given the practical and legal difficulties the government would face in evicting the many people occupying the disputed property. The dispute centers on roughly 37 acres across three zones in Katanga Valley, near Wandegeya in Kampala, where Makerere holds a registered title while families and other occupants claim legally protected interests.

A 2015 High Court judgment recognized several family members and their licensees as bona fide occupants entitled to remain on the land under the Land Act, while also recognizing Makerere as the registered proprietor. The university appealed the decision, and the appeal remains central to the ongoing conflict. Makerere previously claimed ownership of a much larger area of about 277 acres, contrasting with smaller figures indicated on its official title.

The Katanga case is among several land-related disputes highlighted in the Auditor General’s report on Makerere for the financial year ended June 2025. The report warned that encroachment and pending litigation could negatively affect the value of land reported in the university’s financial statements, where non-produced assets were valued at Shs 6.704 trillion.

Oshabe urged university management to pursue negotiations alongside legal efforts, suggesting that compensation or alternative land could provide a practical way out of the protracted dispute while limiting further expenditure of public funds. Read more about the parliamentary session in the The Observer.