Top Story: Tycoon Dr. Kasasa’s Estate in Turmoil as Billion-Shilling Family Feud Erupts Over Prime Property
Kampala, Uganda – August 7, 2025
The vast empire of the late Dr. Sulaiman Kasasa — once one of Uganda’s wealthiest men — is now at the centre of a bitter and complex inheritance battle that has pitted siblings against one another and triggered investigations by both police and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.
Until his death at the age of 92 on June 9, 2024, Dr. Kasasa owned over 50 prime properties across Uganda and the UK, including an entire square mile of real estate in the upscale suburb of Mutungo, Kampala. Despite his immense wealth and influence, Dr. Kasasa lived a notably modest life — but his death has now ignited a fierce power struggle over his multibillion-shilling estate.
The Property at the Heart of the Storm
At the centre of the escalating feud is Plot 11 Cooper Road, located in the high-value Kisementi area of Kamwokya, estimated at over Shs 4 billion. Records show that the late Dr. Kasasa gifted the property to his son, Yusuf Bwete Kasasa, in 1976, and ownership was legally transferred to Bwete.
However, events took a dramatic turn in May 2025, when four of Bwete’s siblings — led by Sophie Nambalirwa Kasasa, who is the named heiress to the estate — introduced a man identified as Andrew Ssetimba Kaweesa to tenants as the new rightful owner, instructing that rent henceforth be paid to him.
Claims of Fraud, Arrests, and a Parallel Title
According to Bwete, who resides in the UK but has been collecting rent from the property for years, this development came as a shock. He flew back to Uganda immediately, only to discover that a parallel land title had been created and the property’s ownership transferred to Ssetimba — a move he now decries as “collusion, fraud, and forgery.”
Tensions reached a boiling point on July 4, 2025, when two of Bwete’s siblings — Nambalirwa and Janet Nakawunde Kasasa — were arrested and briefly detained at Kira Road Police Station before being released on bond. Two other siblings — Sarah Nabuwule Kasasa and Daoda Ddamba — are also alleged to have conspired in the scheme.
Ssetimba has since taken over the property, deploying private guards and exercising full control, all while authorities continue their investigations.
Ssetimba Speaks: “It Was a Legal Sale”
In an exclusive statement, Ssetimba insists that his claim to the property is legitimate. He says Dr. Kasasa first approached him in 2019, requesting a loan of Shs 200 million, and later Shs 3 billion — offering the Cooper Road property as collateral.
“We agreed on a sale-purchase arrangement for $800,000 (Shs 2.8 billion), with an understanding that Dr. Kasasa could buy it back for $1 million,” Ssetimba claims. “He handed over the title, which was in his son Yusuf Bwete’s name, but he explained that Yusuf had no financial claim to the land.”
According to Ssetimba, the deal was sealed with full documentation, witnessed by Nambalirwa Kasasa, and later formalised with a title transfer in 2023 — after the original repayment agreement expired and Dr. Kasasa’s health deteriorated.
Ssetimba also claims to have paid an additional $200,000 to the family in a final settlement following Kasasa’s death. “There is no parallel title. The property is now lawfully mine,” he insists.
Bwete Fights Back: “This is Grand-Scale Fraud”
But Bwete is not backing down. Through his lawyers, he maintains that no such sale ever happened, and that his siblings conspired with Ssetimba to forge documents and fraudulently transfer the title.
“This entire loan story is fiction,” he says. “I entrusted the title to my father because I live abroad. After his death, my siblings claimed they didn’t know where it was. Meanwhile, a forged transfer was created posthumously.”
Bwete further argues that a land search conducted as recently as June 4, 2025, showed he was still the rightful owner — proof, he says, that any purported transfer to Ssetimba occurred after Dr. Kasasa’s death, making it both invalid and criminal.
A Pattern of Chaos in Estates of Uganda’s Tycoons
This latest saga adds to a disturbing trend in Uganda where the deaths of wealthy individuals leave behind bitter legal battles, contested wills, and long court fights that stretch for years.
Dr. Kasasa — a prominent figure not only for his wealth but also as a mentor to fellow tycoon Mohan Kiwanuka — had been fighting off threats to his estate since 2002. Now, it appears that even in death, his legacy is being tested by internal family strife and disputed claims.
The case is currently under active investigation by both police and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, and could set a significant precedent in how estate fraud and family inheritance disputes are handled in Uganda moving forward.
