The State House Anti-Corruption Unit has foiled an illegal eviction in Kampala and subsequently arrested a total of 11 private security personnel.
The guards from Magnum Private Security firm had reportedly been illegally deployed to evict and consequently guard a contested property on Plot 106, Old Kira Road, Ntinda, on March 11, 2024, by a one Yusuf Ssemakula.
Mariam Natasha, the SHACU Spokesperson, said that the family home of the late Eng. Johnson Eliba Orech that was on the said land was demolished without a court order after a similar attack by people acting on the orders of one Yusuf Ssemakula on December 26, 2022.
She noted that this incident was investigated by the unit, and on December 23, 2023, the Court of Appeal issued an interim injunction stating that the occupation of the property by the Eliba family was to be maintained pending the conclusion.
“Despite this injunction, Yusuf Ssemakula, on March 1, 2024, caused a second eviction of the family from the premises and deployed Magnum Security, prompting yesterday’s action by the Unit,” a statement from SHACU read.
The suspects have been handed over to the police for further management. During the first illegal eviction, SHACU, in conjunction with Kira Road police station, arrested and subsequently arraigned six suspects before the KCCA Chief Magistrate’s Court on charges of aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The suspects were arrested on the night of January 1, 2024, after they, without any court orders, forcefully accessed the partially demolished family home of the late Eng. Johnson Eliba Orech, armed with machetes, and violently attacked and robbed one of the family members of his phone and money.
The suspects who indicated to the police that they had also been sent by Yusuf Ssemakula, who has been sighted in several similar cases of illegal evictions reported to the unit, include Julius Lukwago, Hussien Kato, Peter Okello, Umar Katerega, Hussien Ochen, and Godfrey Bahati.
