By Spy Uganda
Tooro Kingdom Queen Mother Best Kemigisa is in trouble after city lawyers dragged her to High Court in Kampala for failing to pay Shs.1 billion legal fees.
According to an affidavit filed on August 24 by Alex Candia and Oundo David Wandera Advocates, on May 22, 2014, the Queen Mother instructed them to represent her in a High Court case against lawyer Bob Kasango (RIP).
Kemigisa was one of Kasango’s former biggest clients. The two however were no longer seeing each other eye to eye after Kasango pocketed Queen mother’s over shs3billion and refused to pay it, which forced the Queen mother to drag him to court.
The court ruled in her favour and ordered Kasango to pay her shs3b which Kasango failed to pay till he time of his death.
“The above instructions were executed and the case was handled to a conclusion where the judgment was delivered in my presence on March 2, 2017,” Oundo noted in his affidavit.
He further noted that the Queen Mother on the same day instructed Oundo to be on a watching brief in a criminal case against Kasango.
“I dully watched the brief both in the trial court and High Court on appeal where the appellate court found the accused guilty, convicted him and sentenced him and further ordered him to refund over Shs3b to the respondent (Queen Mother),” he added. Now having executed all the work as instructed by the Queen Mother, they held several meetings at her Kampala residence in Buziga with the hopes of being paid his legal fees but all in vain.
“The respondent kept on promising to pay but all her promises were not honoured since 2017 to date. Due to the respondent’s inaction, an advocate-client bill of costs was served on her on January 6, requiring her to pay professional fees and disbursements of Shs1b within 30 days, which notice was not honoured,” Oundo revealed.
“The respondent (Queen Mother) declined to pay the said sum of money as demanded but instead, through her lawyers of Akampurira & Partners, alleged that she fully paid us and that she was not indebted to us. As the result of the respondent’s refusal to pay the professional fees and disbursements as demanded, the only recourse available to me and Candia is to seek this court’s leave to tax the Advocate-Client Bill of costs,” he added.
In 2015, Buganda Road Magistrate’s Court ordered Kasango to pay Shs. 3 billion as compensation to the Queen Mother a fine of Shs12m or be imprisoned for five years.
Unfortunately, Kasango died in February last year at Luzira State Prison reportedly due to heart failure while being transported from Murchison Bay prison to Mulago Hospital for further treatment.
