The Family Division of the High Court has ordered for the exhumation of late businessman Benon Kigambo Tumwesigye’s, remains in order to extract body tissue to be used in the DNA testing of 26 children fighting over the deceased’s multibillion estate.
In ruling delivered on the 22nd day of May, Hon Lady Justice Celia Nagawa ordered for the DNA testing of the alleged children, along with their mothers, following an application by Tumwesigye’s official wife, Doreen Maria Tumwesigye who in her affidavit alleged that the deceased, during his lifetime doubted some children and expressly disclosed it to her.
“The Applicant contends that a total of 26 persons have surfaced as alleged children of the deceased, many of whom were unknown to her during the marriage and several of whom first came to her attention at the time of the deceased’s burial” the court document reads.
Celia noted that the children’s reluctance to submit to a kinship test, is itself consistent with the doubts, the late Tumwesigye who died intestate on14th June, 2022, expressed during his lifetime and that the estate over whose bank account she is a signatory has sufficient funds to meet the cos of the examination.
However, a one Ssewava Winfred Karungi, on behalf of the respondents objected to Celia’s request as the official widow, noting that deceased had a prior subsisting customary marriage to Tumukunde Theresa, celebrated on 15th August, 1982 in Rwahendera, Iterero, Bwongyera, Ntugamo District in the presence of named witnesses including the Late James Bigambo, Rev. Stephen Besigye, the Late Matayo Rwakanengyere, and Mathias Igusha Rwakanengyere.
They further noted that Celia voluntarily abandoned the matrimonial home and relocated to the U.S.A, and was not a member of the deceased’s household at the time of his death.
However, Justice Nagawa said the authenticity and legal effect of the foreign divorce proceedings could only be conclusively determined during a full hearing.
“The central issue in this application concerns the proper identification of the lawful beneficiaries of the estate,” the judge ruled.
The judge further noted that while DNA testing in inheritance disputes can create emotional divisions, the court had a duty to ensure the estate is distributed only to lawful beneficiaries.
“Twenty-six people, born to multiple mothers, are fighting over the estate of one man. That division did not originate with this application,” she said.
While delivering her ruling, Justice Nagawa ordered Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory, Wandegeya to conduct the DNA test on all the respondents and the results are handed over to the court within a period of one month.
“The results of a DNA test will bring scientific certainty to a dispute that is presently grounded in assertion, denial, and competing claims of identity,” the ruling stated.
Justice Nagawa also emphasized the constitutional rights of the minors involved in the case.
“For these children, a conclusive determination of their biological relationship to the deceased is not an intrusion, it is a constitutional right,” she ruled.
“Whatever the outcome, they are better served by knowing the truth than by proceeding on assumption.”
The court ordered the Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory in Wandegeya to conduct the DNA examinations and submit results within one month.
It also directed the Government Pathologist and Government Analytical Laboratory to immediately proceed with the exhumation of the deceased’s remains.
Under the ruling, all adult respondents and the biological mothers are required to provide DNA samples within four days.
Any adult respondent who refuses testing risks having their claim to the estate suspended pending compliance.
The court further barred the Administrator General from distributing any part of the estate until the DNA results are received and considered.
Justice Nagawa, however, reserved judgment on whether the alleged California divorce decree should be recognized as legally valid in Uganda.
