Duncan Tumusiime Mutebile, son of the late Bank of Uganda governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, has sued his stepmother, Betty Tumusiime Mutebile, and his late father’s brother, David Kyomukama Mutebile, in a dispute over the management of the deceased’s estate.
Duncan is asking the High Court’s Family Division in Kampala to revoke the letters of administration held by Betty and David, accusing them of concealing assets worth billions of shillings, transferring estate property without his consent and arranging his unlawful confinement at a rehabilitation facility in Mpigi to prevent him from challenging their management of the estate.
The legal battle has also extended to Duncan’s parentage and mental health, with the administrators disputing that he is the late governor’s biological son and challenging the validity of a power of attorney he signed to allow relatives to represent him.
Mutebile died in Kenya on 23 January 2022, aged 72. His estate includes land, commercial buildings, company shares, agricultural assets, vehicles, bank accounts and pension benefits, according to the properties listed in the court dispute.
In the suit, Duncan alleges that several assets were left out of the estate’s administration, including commercial premises on Mabua Road in Kololo, Kampala, and shares in Garuga Properties Limited, Bio Dairy Company Limited, Lake Bunyonyi Eco Resort Limited and Incafex Company Limited.
The other properties and assets he lists include land on Block 18, Plot 224 in Kabale District; land on Block 16, Plots 170 and 176 in Bukoto, Kampala; land on Plot 20, Folio 21, along Cohen Road in Kabale; and land in Wakiso District and Bunga, Kampala, listed as Block 249, Plot 110. He also lists a matooke plantation in Lwengo District, forestry land in Nakaseke District, a farm with 85 Friesian cows, a Mercedes-Benz registration number UAK 925Q, a tractor, pension benefits from the Bank of Uganda and bank accounts reportedly held with Bank of Baroda, Stanbic Bank, Tropical Bank, Barclays, Orient Bank and DFCU Bank.
Duncan further alleges that some estate assets, including the commercial premises in Kololo, were transferred into Betty’s personal name without his consent. He wants the court to examine the alleged omissions and transfers as part of the dispute over the estate’s administration.
The administrators, who currently hold the letters of administration, have disputed Duncan’s claims and challenged his legal standing in the matter.
In a defence filed on 14 October 2026, Betty and David disputed that Duncan is the biological son of the late governor, claiming that his biological father is a man identified as Disan Tumusiime.
They also challenged a power of attorney Duncan signed on 9 September, arguing that he has bipolar affective disorder and that relatives representing him coerced him into signing the document.
Duncan’s lawyers, Joseph Ntegyereize Mutebile and Caleb Karyaho Tukaikiriza, have rejected those claims. They rely on a birth certificate that they say confirms his parentage and a psychiatric assessment conducted at Kira Health Centre IV on 24 September by Senior Psychiatric Clinical Officer Charles Mupere.
According to the assessment cited by Duncan’s representatives, he was cognitively intact, fully oriented and showed no established psychopathology.
The dispute has also prompted a criminal complaint over allegations that Duncan was unlawfully confined at rehabilitation facilities, including Hope and Beyond Rehabilitation Centre in Mpigi, to frustrate his efforts to challenge the estate’s administration.
On 28 September, his representatives lodged a complaint with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and Kira Road Police Station. The case was registered under reference CRB 1197/2026 and includes allegations of kidnapping and unlawful confinement.
On 22 October, state prosecutor Hanifa Kasana directed that the police file be submitted for consideration. The following day, Deputy Assistant Superintendent of Police Flavia Natabirwa Namutebi wrote to the rehabilitation centre requesting Duncan’s medical history and his transfer to a government facility for assessment by a state psychiatrist.
