By Spy Uganda
Ugandan power broker, seasoned journalist and proprietor of the Independent Magazine, Andrew Mujuni Mwenda aka ‘old man of the clan’ spent better part of Monday afternoon at money bags Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia’s palatial residence in Kololo, a leafy Kampala surbab.
Our Spies reveal that despite the Ministry of Health ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe and Social Distancing campaigns’, pencil thin mortal mouthed Mwenda and now bearded Tycoon Sudhir (no money to call a barber home, we guess) decided to fraternize so coolly during their visit, as they caught on lost time as they enjoyed their 10 course luncheon.
Later after the visit, Mwenda, who prides in being referred to as ‘The Old Man’, tweeted thus; “Yesterday I visited my son and friend Sudhir Ruparelia at his palatial home in Kololo where he has been holed up for two months coz of #covid19! I found he has grown a beard that makes him look like a professor, not a property mogul! No social distancing, he needed some covid.”
It should be noted that most Ugandans have been holed up at their homes ever since President Yoweri Museveni announced the COVID-19 lockdown in March this year, which he extended for another month during his 15th National Address on COVID-19 last night.
Dr Ruparelia is a Ugandan business magnate and investor. He is the chairman and majority shareholder in the companies of the Ruparelia Group. His investments are mainly in the areas of banking, insurance, education, broadcasting, real estate, floriculture, hotels, and resorts.
According to Forbes in 2019, he was the wealthiest individual in Uganda, with an estimated net worth of US$1.2 billion
On 20 October 2016, the Bank of Uganda, which regulates all banks in Uganda, took control of Crane Bank, the largest subsidiary of the Ruparelia Group, alledgly due to a significant decline in capital and potential run on the bank and later sold to dfcu Bank, a move both BoU and Dfcu Bank have since regretted after the sale was overturned by the High Court. It should be noted that tycoon Sudhir, through the Ruparelia Foundation, donated two brand new 4×4 Tata pickup vehicles to help the National COVID-19 Response Task Force in the fight against the pandemic. Last week he also thought at the plight of animals in this Covid19 lockdown and donated shs10m to Chimpanzees! Talk about remembering our brothers in these critical times!
