OIL BOSS IN LOVE WAR! UNOC Boss in Charge of Uganda’s $4 Billion Refinery Dream in fierce divorce battle with his Canadian wife
As Uganda races to deliver its long-awaited oil dream, a storm is erupting far from the wells of Hoima—but one that could shake confidence at the very top of the project.
Red Pepper can exclusively report that at the center of it all is Michael Nkambo Mugerwa, the man entrusted with steering the country’s multi-billion-dollar refinery project, now entangled in a bitter, emotionally charged divorce war that is raising eyebrows in both corporate and political circles.
Mugerwa is no ordinary technocrat.
He is the General Manager of the Uganda Refinery Holding Company Ltd, a key arm of the Uganda National Oil Company tasked with delivering a 60,000-barrels-per-day refinery at Kabaale in Hoima District.
The ambitious project includes a 211-kilometre pipeline to Mpigi, a storage terminal at Namwabula, and critical water infrastructure—an undertaking expected to inject at least $4 billion into Uganda’s economy.
This is not just another government project.
It is a cornerstone of Uganda’s economic transformation, expected to attract at least $4 billion (about Shs15.2 trillion) in investment. The deal has already pulled in Alpha MBM Investments from the United Arab Emirates, led by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, a member of the Dubai Royal Family, in partnership with the Uganda National Oil Company.
But as billions loom, insiders have told Red Pepper that Mugerwa’s focus of recent (on Uganda’s oil dream) may be under siege—not by engineering challenges, but by a deeply personal war playing out in courtrooms across continents.
The soft-spoken engineer is locked in a fierce divorce battle with his Canadian wife, Nicole Van Seters.
What began as a promising cross-continental love story has now descended into a bruising legal fight over children, legacy, and—most explosively—property tied to a charitable mission.
Elders including his father Peter James Nkambo Mugerwa (now deceased) attempted to intervene, but the relationship had irretrievably broken down.
For those unfamiliar with the name Mugerwa, this is no ordinary family. Michael is the son of the late Peter James Nkambo Mugerwa, a towering figure in Uganda’s legal and political history. Born on January 10, 1933, the elder Mugerwa served as Uganda’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs under Idi Amin from 1971 to 1973. Before that, he had been Deputy Solicitor General and later Acting Solicitor General from 1964 to 1971.
In dramatic fashion, Idi Amin fired him in 1973, accusing him of failing to keep up with the regime’s “supersonic speed.” But Mugerwa bounced back, entering private practice and forming powerful law firms including Mpanga and Mugerwa Advocates, later evolving into Mugerwa & Matovu, and eventually into the formidable MMAKS Advocates after partnering with Timothy Masembe Kanyerezi, Mathias Ssekatawa, and Phillip Karugaba.
He later served as chairman of the Buganda Land Board, appointed by Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, overseeing a 13-member board that included Prince David Kintu Wassajja and other influential figures. Even in retirement, he remained active, splitting time between his Mukono lakeside property and a ranch in Kyankwazi. He passed away in 2020.
His children followed elite paths—Fiona Nalwanga Magona at MMAKS Advocates, Alice Namuli Blazevic at Katende Ssempebwa Advocates, and Jan Mugerwa in London with Olephant Solicitors.
Michael himself was groomed in excellence. A chemical engineer with over 32 years of experience, he worked with global giants like Technip, Jacobs Engineering, and Kinetics Technology in the USA, Canada, and Italy. He holds BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from the University of Manchester and is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.
His expertise spans process engineering, project management, risk, contracts, safety, refinery technologies, and renewable energy systems.
HOOKS CANADIAN
It was during his years abroad that he met Nicole Van Seters, a Canadian nonprofit organizer. The two married and had children together, building both a family and a shared vision rooted in philanthropy.
But around 2010, cracks began to appear.
Despite intervention from elders, the marriage could not be salvaged. By 2015, the couple had separated. In 2020, the conflict escalated into formal divorce proceedings at the High Court of Uganda (Family Division), under Divorce Cause No. 100 of 2020: Nicole Jennifer Van Seters versus Michael Nkambo Mugerwa.
Mugerwa is represented by AF Mpanga Advocates, while Van Seters is represented by Peter Nkurunziza and George Arinaitwe of PNK Advocates.
In a dramatic twist, Red Pepper understands that due to conflicting legal systems between Uganda and Canada—where the marriage was contracted—the divorce case was transferred in November 2025 and is now being handled in Canada.
But the real fireworks are not just about the marriage.
They are about property. And not just any property—property tied to a charitable mission meant to serve Uganda’s most vulnerable children.
Around 2004, the couple jointly initiated a project after purchasing rural land intended strictly for community development. Because Van Seters, as a foreigner, could not legally own land in Uganda, the property was registered in Mugerwa’s name—a move that is now at the heart of a fierce dispute.
In 2005, they established Buiga Sunrise School and Grace Family Health Center in Banda Kyandaaza village, Nakisunga Sub-County, Mukono District. The project was designed to provide early childhood education, primary schooling, and basic healthcare to families living in rural poverty.
Van Seters went further and created Sunrise Centre, a Canadian nonprofit organization, to mobilize international funding. Donors from Canada and beyond poured in money, materials, and volunteer support, believing they were contributing to a purely charitable cause.
To ensure local ownership, a Ugandan community-based organization, Buiga Sunrise, was formed as the beneficiary.
After the separation in 2015, Van Seters reportedly continued to fundraise and manage the project, while Mugerwa played a minimal role. The school expanded, helping children who would otherwise have no access to education or healthcare.
But tensions escalated when efforts were made to secure the project’s future.
Van Seters and the Canadian nonprofit repeatedly requested that the land be transferred into a nonprofit or trust structure to safeguard the charitable mission. These requests were refused.
Now, according to community accounts, Mugerwa has asserted personal ownership over the land and facilities—despite claims that they were developed almost entirely through donor funding.
What was built for children has now become the center of a bitter legal and ethical war.
A community school serving vulnerable families is caught in the crossfire of a high-profile divorce. Questions are being asked about donor protection, misuse of power, and whether charitable assets can be turned into private property.
But this is another day story Red Pepper will exclusively publish in our subsequent publication.
And all this unfolds as Uganda’s oil clock keeps ticking.
Psychologists warn that such intense personal battles can affect focus, judgment, and leadership—raising concerns about whether Mugerwa can fully concentrate on delivering one of Uganda’s most critical infrastructure projects at such a pivotal moment.
Uganda needs steady hands on the wheel.
But right now, one of its key oil captains is fighting a storm at home.
Whether he can weather it—or whether it spills into the national interest—remains the billion-dollar question.
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