The Uganda Police Force has launched a manhunt for city lawyer and company secretary Canon Agaba Maguru and former Garuga aide Charles Byaruhanga to assist in investigations into the alleged fraudulent registration and transfer of prime land belonging to the late businessman James Musinguzi Garuga.
According to police summons dated February 12, 2026, issued by the Savannah Regional Criminal Investigations Directorate in Luwero, investigators are probing transactions involving land described as Bulemezi Block 1004, Plot 2 located in Ngoma, Nakaseke District.
Police say Maguru, who also served as company secretary for Garuga Properties, is believed to possess critical information regarding the controversial land dealings and has been directed to appear before regional CID officers for questioning.
The investigation stems from an explosive property dispute involving thousands of acres of land linked to the late tycoon’s sprawling business empire.
Court documents before the High Court in Luweero accuse Maguru of orchestrating the irregular sale of more than 2,000 acres of land belonging to Incafex Limited to Charles Byaruhanga at a reported price of only Shs97,000 per acre, allegedly without any valid company board resolution.
The filings further allege that the transaction was carried out in collusion with Garuga’s widow, Peace Kesiime, during the businessman’s final months of illness in 2025.
According to the court pleadings, the disputed sale agreement was allegedly backdated to January 10, 2020, despite the leasehold title for Plot 2 Block 1004 only being created after subdivision of the mother title on July 15, 2022 — a discrepancy now central to the fraud allegations.
The suit also claims the land transaction was executed despite an existing Supreme Court injunction barring the sale, transfer, mortgaging, or alienation of several Incafex properties pending a court-ordered audit arising from long-running disputes involving businessman Mathew Rukikaire.
In earlier proceedings, the Supreme Court Registrar, Her Worship Harriet Nalukwago Ssali, dismissed Civil Application No. 08 of 2023 involving Incafex Limited and referred another related matter filed by Rukikaire to the High Court Commercial Division for further management.
The court maintained an interim injunction restraining Incafex Limited, its directors, shareholders, agents and employees from disposing of multiple ranches and estates spread across Bulemezi, Buruli and the Bunyoro Ranching Scheme until completion of a comprehensive audit ordered by the Supreme Court.
Rukikaire, a shareholder in Incafex Limited, separately accuses Maguru of exploiting the leadership vacuum created after Garuga’s death to unlawfully install himself as a director in some of the companies associated with the estate through what he describes as sham resolutions and irregular company filings at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau.
According to the filings, shareholders were allegedly never notified of meetings, no lawful quorum existed, and no valid board resolutions were passed authorising the changes.
The dispute has since intensified after another suit was filed by Garuga’s son and heir, Alwyn Carl Garuga, who accuses Maguru of masterminding fraudulent land transfers while the late tycoon was bedridden and gravely ill.
The plaint alleges that Maguru forged Garuga’s signatures on sale agreements and transfer documents before backdating them to create the appearance that the transactions had been authorised before the businessman’s death in August 2025.
Court documents further claim the land — measuring approximately 849 hectares in Bulemezi County was transferred to Charles Byaruhanga without shareholder approval, valid company resolutions, or proof of payment.
“The acts of selling and transferring the suit property were illegal, fraudulent and calculated to defeat the interests of the beneficiaries,” part of the court filing states.
The Commissioner for Land Registration has also been dragged into the dispute for allegedly registering the transfers without adequately verifying the authenticity of the supporting documents.
Alwyn Garuga is now seeking court orders nullifying the land transactions, cancellation of the existing land titles, restoration of ownership to Incafex Limited, eviction of current occupants, and the permanent removal of Maguru as company secretary.
He is also demanding general and punitive damages over what he describes as a deliberate scheme to dispossess beneficiaries of the late tycoon’s estate.
The latest developments add another dramatic twist to the escalating battle over the vast business empire left behind by James Musinguzi Garuga, one of western Uganda’s most prominent businessmen.
A separate court ruling recently placed management of parts of Garuga’s estate under the Administrator General following bitter disputes within the family over control of the deceased businessman’s properties.
