Tooro Queen mother Best Kemigisa finally appeared before the land probe to answer queries in relation to the protracted land wrangles between her and the Tooro royal family. “That land was registered in your husband’s name but they say he was simply a trustee.” Said, John Bosco Suuza – Ass. Lead Counsel. “Bujojje hated my husband; jealousy being a king. I was married but he used to tell me who are good and those who are not good to him. They inherited the hatred up to now, that’s why am here.” Said, Best Kemigisa – Tooro Queen Mother. In her submission, Best Kemigisa admitted that she sold 13 pieces of land to government estimated to have a total acreage of 14 square miles at 4 billion shillings. She, however, denied selling kingdom land or land belonging to any of the royal family members since all the land that she sold was in her husband’s names the late Omukama Patrick Olimika Boyo. "My Lord if you see the land titles which I have, it was changed in my husband's name in 1967 and it came to my names in 1997. Where were they all that time? From 1967 until I became an administrator, through struggling…"
Information before the Commission was that in 1966 when the then President of Uganda Milton Obote abolished kingdoms, the said land was still in the kingdom names and for fear of losing this land to government, royal family members and trustees agreed to register the land in the name of the king as a trustee with hope that once the tension was settled, the land would be registered in the names of each of the family members. Unfortunately, Omukama Patrick Olimika Boyo died without leaving a will hence the tension. “I wanted to bring this to you because this has been the discussion; that for fear that the kingdom of Tooro would lose its state and its state would be made public like all land was made public land, this land was put in the names of your husband.” Said, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire – Chair Land Probe. “Everyone has had his/her own share, I don’t know why they are interested in my children’s land?” “That was actually my next question. Do you know whether these people who are now laying this claim against have other lands?” “They have my Lord, they have their own land.”
But even when this information was put to her, Kemigisa instead insisted that the land belonged to her husband and instead accused her in-laws of wanting to kill her over land that they never owned. “They have talked a lot including Bujojje that I sold kingdom land, my Lord. That I have sold Muchwa, I have sold this and that, they are not other people but they are those people like Bujojje, Hon. Rugunda and Rugumayo. They are talking a lot, my Lord, how can you talk to those people who are tarnishing your name. To this extent, if you read all papers from when I was abroad I found a lot of crap in papers my Lord. Those kinds of people how can you talk to them? Me I am praying to you my Lord, protect me those people they can even kill me."
She also blamed the divisions in the kingdom on her in-laws who instead of being grateful to her for raising their king they had resorted to undermining her and the young king. “They should at least thank me, I have done something for the Royals, for the people of Tooro, for everybody and Uganda. I have done something, my husband my Lord left me when I was 26 years old, I could have got married but I said no, I will die here in Tooro, I will protect the integrity of Tooro kingdom, I will stand by my children. But whatever we are doing, they are destroying my Lord. We are all here looking for the medicine, what can we do my Lord for such people?” since the Commission found her submission wanting, she was ordered to submit more documents to the Commission pertaining to her late husband's official transactions for which she will have to appear for further interrogation.
