After years of legal wrangling and bitter family divisions, Uganda’s Court of Appeal has ruled that the estate of prominent businessman Mohan Musisi Kiwanuka will be placed under joint family control, citing a confirmed mental illness that has left the once-formidable tycoon unfit to manage his affairs.
In a 58-page ruling delivered on May 30, the three-judge panel found that Kiwanuka, 81, has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease — a progressive and irreversible neurological disorder — since at least 2017.
“In view of all this evidence, it is clear that the respondent (Mr. Kiwanuka) is suffering from a mental illness… and that means this mental illness has been critical since the medical examination in May of 2017,” the justices ruled.
The court invalidated a 2019 High Court ruling that had dismissed concerns about Kiwanuka’s mental health after a controversial private interview between the presiding judge and Kiwanuka himself. That ruling, the judges said, failed to account for credible medical and family testimony and instead “ignored glaring signs of advanced cognitive deterioration.”
The new judgment, delivered by Justices Cheborion Barishaki, Christopher Gashirabake, and Dr. Asa Mugenyi, lays out sweeping orders. Chief among them: the immediate removal of the current individuals managing the estate, an independent family meeting within 30 days to appoint a new manager, and a forensic accounting of all transactions involving Kiwanuka’s assets dating back to May 2017.
“An order that the individuals and family members involved in managing the respondent’s estate to date provide a full account of all transactions… including any asset disposal, rental income, sales and loans, mortgages, within 30 days,” the court wrote.
The estate in question is not just large — it is sprawling. Kiwanuka’s business empire spans media, real estate, manufacturing, and logistics, including over 40 companies and at least 46 properties, 26 of them located in Kololo, one of Kampala’s most exclusive neighborhoods.
The list reads like a who’s-who of Ugandan real estate: Plot 1, Malcolm X Avenue; Plot 18, Philip Road; entire stretches along Ridgeway Drive, Elizabeth Avenue, and Akii Bua Road. The court appended pages of properties and company names: Radio One, Radio Two, Visa Plastics, Summit Estates, and Oscar Industries, among others.
But beneath the surface of financial power lies a deeply fractured family.
Jordan Kiwanuka, the son from Kiwanuka’s first marriage, initiated legal proceedings in 2019 after alleging he had been denied access to his father by Kiwanuka’s second wife, Maria Nabasirye Kiwanuka — Uganda’s former finance minister.
Jordan described how his father had become “forgetful, withdrawn, and prone to irrational business decisions.” Despite those claims, the High Court had previously dismissed his case, suggesting there was no “glaring proof of insanity.”
That stance did not hold up under the Court of Appeal’s review.
The judges considered fresh evidence: affidavits from four of Kiwanuka’s biological sisters, his uncle Dr. Muhammad Kasasa, and attending physicians Dr. Simon Ssekiganda Luzige and Dr. Harriet Nankabirwa. Each attested to his declining memory and impaired judgment.
One piece of evidence stood out: a Power of Attorney signed by Kiwanuka himself in 2019, which explicitly acknowledged his deteriorating cognitive state and outlined plans for medical oversight.
Still, not everyone viewed Jordan’s efforts charitably. Some family members accused him of scheming to seize control of the estate. The court rejected that claim.
“It is not unexpected for a son who has previously worked closely with his father for over 20 years and realised gradual memory loss… to worry and genuinely be concerned,” the ruling stated.
The judges went further, criticizing Kiwanuka’s longtime lawyer, Francis Buwule, for what they described as “dishonourable conduct.” Buwule had sworn an affidavit acknowledging Kiwanuka’s mental illness while simultaneously representing him in court.
“This is a matter in which the Law Council should be deeply interested,” the court wrote, referring Buwule to the professional disciplinary body for investigation.
The ruling also guarantees that all of Kiwanuka’s lineal descendants — and both of his wives — must now be given unfettered access to him and his medical records, including those in the UK where he previously sought care.
The decision could mark a turning point in how Uganda’s courts handle mental health and guardianship, particularly in high-stakes family and property disputes. The court underscored that a finding of mental illness does not equate to expropriation of assets.
“Whether the applicant had been motivated by bad faith or not,” the judges concluded, “the respondent was suffering from a considerably advanced mental illness and the Court had to find as such.”
As the dust settles on a bitterly contested battle that pitted family against family, what remains is a fragile but clear directive: transparency, accountability, and care — not secrecy — must now define the management of Mohan Musisi Kiwanuka’s legacy.
