The High Court in Kampala has settled the long-standing legal dispute surrounding businessman Mohan Musisi Kiwanuka’s mental health.
In a court order issued on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the registrar determined that Mr Kiwanuka is mentally unstable and granted his children full access to him.
The decision follows an admission by Mr Kiwanuka’s longstanding lawyer and company secretary, Francis Buwule, that his client is indeed mentally unfit.
This admission came during proceedings for a case filed by Kiwanuka’s siblings—Jalia Muwanga, Yudaya Nantege Nsereko, Sarah Nsereko, and Berti Kawooya Nsereko—who sought a court order to declare him of unsound mind due to mental illness.
“During the said hearing, counsel for Mr Kiwanuka admitted he is insane,” Mr. Buwule wrote in a submission to the Court of Appeal.
“Accordingly, the High Court noted the said admission and has ordered that the applicants and other relatives of Mr Kiwanuka be allowed immediate access to him.”
This admission and the subsequent ruling bring an end to years of legal wrangling over the management of Kiwanuka’s vast estate.
The court’s decision resolves the bitter family feud, which saw Kiwanuka’s children and siblings fight for control of his business empire, which includes 32 companies in the Kampala metropolitan area, and at least 46 properties in prime locations like Kololo and Nakasero.
Mr Kiwanuka, the CEO of Oscar Industries Ltd, is an octogenarian whose wife former Finance minister Maria Kiwanuka runs Radio One and its affiliate franchises.
The ruling also resolves a much-discussed issue concerning Kiwanuka’s mental state, which had been a point of contention since his son, Jordan Ssebuliba, first filed a suit against him in May 2019.
Mr Ssebuliba had requested the court to remove his father’s powers to manage the family’s estates, citing concerns about Kiwanuka’s mental stability.
Ms Kiwanuka has four children, including Ssebuliba, with his first wife Beatrice Kavuma, and another three with Maria whom he married later.
His sisters and some of his children contend that Ms Maria and her son Edin Musisi had assumed powers of attorney to control the tycoon’s vast business interests.
They said he was not mentally stable to make informed decisions and that Ms Maria was taking advantage of this to either sell or transfer properties to her children’s names.
Mr Ssebuliba asked the high court to grant an order for the family to conduct a mental check-up on their father, who he accused of not being fully in control of his mental faculties due to a decision his father took to remove him from the management of the 32 companies owned by his father.
While Justice Musa Ssekaana ruled in Kiwanuka’s favour in the 2019 case, asserting that he was mentally capable of managing his affairs, Principal Judge Flavian Zeija on January 31 ruled that mental health can change any time.
This assertion was backed by medical evidence presented during the hearings, with Dr Simon Sekiganda Luzige, a family physician who had treated Kiwanuka since 2014, swearing in an affidavit that the tycoon had developed significant anger issues and depression.
He added, “Over time, he became increasingly forgetful and exhibited a significant personality change.”
Similarly, Dr Harriet Nankabirwa, a geriatrician who had also treated Kiwanuka, confirmed the businessman’s mental health struggles.
“During my interactions with the Respondent, I took him through routine preparation for patients in similar conditions, including inquiring whether he had made arrangements for the appointment of trustees to make decisions on his behalf should he become unable to do so.”
Counsel Buwule’s admission to the court became a significant turn in the family battle.
The court order comes a day after Justice Zeija heard from both sides. He had already indicated in his January 31 ruling that all parties had been granted the clarity and access they sought.
The petitioners had asked the court to set aside the ruling from 2019 and conduct a thorough inquiry into the respondent’s mental capacity and the propriety of his counsel’s instructions.
They claimed that new evidence revealed the respondent’s ongoing mental disability, which had not been properly addressed in previous proceedings.
“I have reviewed the affidavit by Dr Simon Sekiganda Luzige, a family physician, which states that the respondent had developed significant anger issues, depression, and forgetfulness,” Zeija said.
“This is a clear indication of a significant personality change, which has become more pronounced over time.”
He also referenced the testimony of Dr Harriet Nankabirwa, a geriatrician, who noted that the respondent had undergone routine mental health evaluations and suggested that the respondent’s legal representation should be reconsidered based on these findings.
“I inquired whether he had made arrangements for the appointment of trustees to manage his affairs should he become unable to do so,” Dr. Nankabirwa affirmed in her affidavit, reinforcing the claims of mental incapacity.
In contrast, before the admission of mental incapacity, the respondent’s counsel, Edwin Busuulwa, contended that the petitioners’ application lacked merit.
Justice Zeija, however, concluded that significant new evidence had emerged, particularly surrounding the respondent’s mental health, which was not available at the time of the 2019 ruling.
“The issue is whether the earlier case, No. 249 of 2019, can bar these proceedings due to res judicata. However, the new evidence establishes that the respondent’s mental condition has deteriorated since that ruling,” Zeija clarified.
Res judicata is a legal doctrine that prevents a case from being re-litigated once it has been decided by a court.
Under this principle, when a court has made a final judgment on the merits of a case, the same issue cannot be raised again by the same parties in any future lawsuits.
On this basis, Justice Zeija ruled that the dismissal of Miscellaneous Cause No. 82 of 2023 on the grounds of res judicata was inappropriate.
He found that the new developments, including admissions by the respondent’s own witnesses, justified a fresh hearing.
“Mental status is a condition that can change rapidly,” Zeija explained. “Someone who is sane today may be insane tomorrow, and vice versa.”
The court ordered that the application be reviewed, setting aside the earlier ruling. Justice Zeija determined that the matter would be heard on its merits.
Tycoon Kiwanuka had been directed to appear in court personally or be brought by those in charge of his care on February 11, 2025, at 11am.
But the family opted to settle the matter by admitting his mental state had significantly deteriorated, settling the mental health dispute to open the vast business empire of tycoon Kiwanuka to his children.
