By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Tycoon Hamis Kiggundu, Diamond Trust Bank fraud case gets to another level as the city mogul kicks Justice Flavian Zeija out of the case reportedly over misconduct.
Read In Full ‘Ham’s Letter Exposing Zeija’s ‘Misconduct’
It should be remembered that the Principal Judge Dr Flavian Zeija last week stayed the implementation of Commercial Court orders directing Diamond Trust Bank Uganda and Diamond Trust Bank Kenya to refund 120 billion shillings and to return properties to businessman Hamis Kiggundu.
READ ALSO: Ham, DTB Feud: Court Of Appeal Announces Date For Ruling In Multibillion Fraud Case
In his ruling, Zeija noted that the orders need to be stayed because Justice Adonyo issued orders in favour of one party in a transaction that he found illegal and he made no mention of the sums Kiggundu borrowed hence arguing stay of the implementation so that the Court of Appeal can first determine whether the transaction was illegal since it remains an issue of contention in as far as the Contract Act of 2010 is concerned.
“This is because the records show that the banks received independent advice from lawyers before signing the agreements,” Zeija noted.
Justice Zeija also said the Court of Appeal also needs to first answer the question of agency banking, whether foreign banks that are not trading in Uganda are required to obtain a license from Uganda to execute a contract.
He added, “Bank of Uganda recently released a statement indicating that the license was not required in the transaction under dispute, the court of appeal has to first determine whether the Bank of Uganda was right or not.”
The Judge also reasoned that there is a serious threat of execution of the orders because he has already learnt that shortly when he issued an interim order staying execution last month, Kiggundu’s lawyers secretly extracted an order signed by the Acting Registrar Lillian Bucyana without court files yet they were already before him and he only learnt about it in the DTB application.
Like it is usually the practice to deposit money to court before proceeding to appeal, the Principal Judge has said it’s not necessary here since the banks have the capacity to pay Kiggundu his money should the Court of Appeal confirm the Adonyo decision.
He also added that there is a possibility of vacating the mortgages and it would create more hardships in case the Court of Appeal quashes the decision by the lower court.
The Principal Judge’s decision which is going to be in place until the determination of DTB’s Court of Appeal case has been challenged by Kiggundu’s lawyers led by Fred Muwema say they are going to appeal against this decision because the Principal Judge’s conduct in this file is wanting.
Read In Full ‘Ham’s Letter Exposing Zeija’s ‘Misconduct’
