By Our Reporter
City businessman Hamis Kiggundu has publicly declared that Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Edwin Karugire, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s son-in-law may soon end his life.
Kiggundu said the above after today’s session at the Supreme Court in Kampala, where he was summoned with his lawyers for the pre-hearing conference to fix the hearing dates for civil applications and to determine the format for the presentation of arguments and time frames for filing written submissions in which he is battling with Diamond Trust Bank to recover over UGX 120 Billion that was fraudulently deducted from his bank accounts.
However, to Ham’s surprise, Court presided over by Lady Justice Elizabeth Musoke informed him that actually the whole saga had been concluded and he should come back next week on Tuesday, June 13th, 2023 for the judgment.
The above left Ham and his lawyers led by Fred Muwema in shock and demanded judgment on the admission that DTB operated without a required license, resulting in the fraudulent withdrawal of funds from their client’s bank accounts. Further to Ham’s surprise, before even Justice Elizabeth responded, DTB lawyers, led by Edwin Karugire trashed Muwema’s prayer and contended that his application was irrelevant as the main appeal was heard in November 2021 and therefore Ham had no option but to wait for whatever kind of judgment that will be delivered next week.
In fact, Karugire used this same moment to quash Ham’s hope for justice by stating that a panel consisting of Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, Faith Mwondha, Percy Night Tuhaise, Mike Chibita, and the late Opio Aweri, had reviewed the case and Kiggundu’s lawyers had nothing additional to contribute during the submission process. Ham’s tireless lawyer Muwema again tried to convince Court explaining that the hearing was intended for administrative matters and argued that DTB’s submissions revealed admissions of illegal operations without a license and raised new grounds but all this couldn’t convince the Lady Justice who had already agreed with Karugire that come rain or shine nothing can change her mind than waiting for the final judgment next week.
This saw the tycoon Kiggundu moving out of Court totally dissatisfied and on stepping outside the court he was welcomed by a crowd of his supporters who were heard voicing their anger against Counsel Karugire accusing him of using his relations with President Museveni to influence the court’s decisions and to deny justice to Ham.
Journalists’ attempts to get a comment from Counsel Karugire were futile as he refused to say anything and drove off the court premises.
Addressing the press, Kiggundu furiously spit venom against Chief Justice Owiny Dollo, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Counsel Karugire saying the trio is no longer following what the law says but using their positions and power to deny him justice.
”Firstly I want this to be on the record, if I die today, just know it’s Karugire and Kiryowa. Secondly, I want to tell Ugandans that I have single-handedly fought this battle from the lower courts up to this level but as you all see, these dirty games here can’t give you hope for justice,” said Ham.
It’s worth noting that in previous rulings, Kiggundu floored DTB Bank when Commercial Court Judge Henry Peter Adonyo ruled in his favor and ordered DTB Uganda to refund all funds deducted from his accounts without his consent. Records presented to the court revealed that Kiggundu had obtained loans totaling over Shillings 120 billion from DTB Uganda and DTB Kenya between 2011 and 2016 to finance his real estate business.
The dispute arose when the banks claimed that Kiggundu had failed to fulfill his loan obligations, amounting to Shillings 39 billion, as per the agreed terms. They threatened to seize the mortgaged properties. Kiggundu petitioned the commercial court, arguing that the withdrawn funds exceeded the outstanding loan amount, as he had already made full repayment.
Kiggundu sought to strike out the banks’ defenses and obtain an order for the refund of unlawfully obtained funds. Justice Adonyo dismissed the banks’ defense and directed them to refund the money, along with an 8% interest rate and the costs of the suit…but based on the current situation, it may be so hard for the tycoon who employs over 15000 Ugandans to receive any penny from DTB.
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