Uganda’s NSSF Seeks Court Eviction in Temangalo Land Fight

Uganda · BUSINESS

NSSF moves to evict Nzeyi from Temangalo land

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has abandoned its long-standing attempt to resolve the Temangalo dispute through a negotiated land swap. In June 2026, the Fund gave businessman Amos Nzeyi an ultimatum to provide “suitable alternative land” or vacate approximately 55 acres he continues to occupy and farm in Wakiso District.

When the June 30 deadline passed without a swap, NSSF announced it was moving to the High Court to enforce its ownership rights and seek eviction. NSSF managing director Patrick Ayota told members of Parliament that the Fund has “resolved to demand vacant possession” of more than 100 acres occupied by Nzeyi.

The Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) inspected the site on August 12, 2026 and found cattle grazing and farming activities still underway on land NSSF insists it owns. Members of Parliament demanded an explanation for why Nzeyi continues to occupy between 50 and 100 acres nearly two decades after the sale.

The 2008 deal that started the Temangalo land fight

NSSF bought 463.87 acres of private mailo land at Temangalo in 2008 from Amos Nzeyi and AMA Limited, a company linked to former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi. The agreed purchase price was about 11.2 billion Ugandan shillings (about US$6.5 million at 2008 exchange rates), working out at 24 million shillings per acre (roughly US$14,000 per acre).

Critics at the time called the valuation inflated relative to market rates in the Temangalo area. NSSF’s then managing director David Chandi Jamwa later told Parliament that he came under pressure from Ministers Mbabazi and Ezra Suruma to purchase the land at that price.

The Fund said it planned to use the land to build around 5,000 low-cost houses, positioning the deal as a socially beneficial investment of workers’ savings. NSSF insists it became the registered proprietor and holds all six certificates of title covering the 463.87 acres.

A land swap that never materialised

When the purchase agreement was concluded, NSSF entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nzeyi allowing him to temporarily retain about 100 to 104.88 acres that included a farmhouse, paddocks and other developments. In exchange, Nzeyi was obliged to provide NSSF with “suitable alternative land” within six months.

The replacement land was supposed to be adjacent, squatter-free and suitable for NSSF’s planned housing development. NSSF later told Parliament that the parcels Nzeyi offered did not meet these criteria, and that he resisted efforts by the Fund to take possession of the retained acreage as negotiations dragged on for years.

By 2023, NSSF corporate secretary Agnes Tibayeita Isharaza told a parliamentary select committee that some titles for parts of the Temangalo land were still in Nzeyi’s name. She said these portions had “encumbrances” that he hoped to resolve via the swap, contradicting earlier public assurances that all titles were clean.

Competing claims and legal outcomes in the Temangalo land fight

A parallel strand of the saga involves the Temangalo Tea Estate, owned by the family of Muhammad Hassanali Moosa based in Canada. The family claimed that a 79-year lease dating from September 1924 ran until August 2003, though they argued that their expulsion under Idi Amin should have extended the term.

They argued that the land had been fraudulently repossessed or transferred during the post-Idi Amin era and that Nzeyi’s acquisition and subsequent sale to NSSF constituted land grabbing. In 2016, Temangalo Tea Estate sued NSSF and Nzeyi to repossess about 366 acres.

On September 10, 2020, Justice John Eudes Keitirima of the High Court Land Division dismissed the suit with costs. The court ruled that the cause of action had arisen by 1993 and that filing in 2016, 23 years later, was barred by limitation under Uganda’s Limitation Act.

The court therefore cleared NSSF and Nzeyi of wrongdoing in relation to acquisition and ownership of the 366 acres referenced in that suit, at least on limitation and title grounds. The ruling did not resolve the separate dispute between NSSF and Nzeyi over the retained acreage.

Money, power and pension capital at stake

NSSF is Uganda’s statutory pension fund, managing mandatory retirement savings for workers in the formal sector. Its investments carry large social and political stakes, and the Temangalo purchase was part of a broader push to deploy workers’ savings into real estate and affordable housing.

The deal linked a pension fund, a former Prime Minister, a Finance Minister, a tycoon and the Uganda Development Bank. Allegations from probes suggest a pattern where land with unclear or contested ownership is regularised through bureaucratic manoeuvres, then flipped to state entities at premium prices.

For international investors, the nearly 20-year occupation of pension-fund land by its former owner sends a mixed message about enforcement of contracts and property rights in Uganda. Persistent disputes over a flagship NSSF land purchase signal legal uncertainty and political interference, factors that shape how external actors assess governance risk across African real estate and infrastructure markets.

The Temangalo case fits within a broader pattern covered by Africa: The New Scramble, where control over land and titles is a central arena in which domestic elites, public institutions and external partners negotiate power.

What to watch next in the Temangalo land fight

A court-backed eviction of Nzeyi would strengthen NSSF’s claim to be enforcing fiduciary duties and could set a precedent for tougher action on politically connected counterparties. Conversely, a prolonged stalemate would reinforce perceptions of elite impunity in Uganda’s land system.

If resolved, Temangalo could unlock a significant affordable housing project in the Kampala periphery. If not, it could delay much-needed housing and reinforce the view that land disputes are a binding constraint on East African urbanisation.

Future cases involving departed Asians’ property may also attract greater international attention, pressuring Uganda to review limitation rules or compensation mechanisms. That could affect broader land-market dynamics well beyond Temangalo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much land is NSSF trying to reclaim from Amos Nzeyi?

NSSF is seeking to reclaim approximately 55 acres that Nzeyi continues to occupy, though the Fund has told Parliament it wants vacant possession of more than 100 acres.

How much did NSSF pay for the Temangalo land in 2008?

NSSF bought 463.87 acres at Temangalo in 2008 for about 11.2 billion Ugandan shillings (about US$6.5 million at 2008 rates), working out at 24 million shillings per acre.

What happened to the Moosa family’s claim over Temangalo land?

The High Court dismissed the Moosa family’s suit over 366 acres in September 2020, ruling that the claim was barred by limitation because it was filed 23 years after the cause of action arose.

Sources

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