By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Entebbe based Spenah Beach boss, John Asiimwe must be going through horror dreams after all his hopes were Friday afternoon dust binned by Twed Tower based High Court (Land Division) in Kampala. This week Asiimwe run to court seeking an Interim Order Injunction restraining his landlord, his agents, representatives, or appointees from evicting him, an application that was expressly dismissed with costs to the respondents. According to respondents’ lawyer, Paul Kenneth Kakande of Alaka and Company Advocates, the costs for the suit so far is in the region of shs500m, but was quick to add that they will sit and equate everything next week.
WATCH: Laywer Paul Kenneth Kakande Clarifying On Court Ruling
The ruling was delivered by Assistant Registrar High Court (Land Division) His Worship Kintu Simon Zirintusa who ordered Asiimwe to vacate his landlord’s premises because he lacks grounds to shield his impunity of staying on the same which he doesn’t pay rent for!
As if the above was not enough, the same court delivered another ruling against Asiimwe in which his landlord sought an order restraining Asiimwe from tresspassing on the land. In this ruling, Court ordered Asiimwe to cough another batch of costs to his landlord for wasting his time in court.
”An Order of Temporary Injunction is hereby issued against the Respondents and or their agents, or anybody acting under their authority restraining them from interfering, trespassing or obstructing the Applicant’s right to quiet possession and or use of land comprised in FRV WBU 6465 Folio 91, Plot No.A circular road Bugonga Entebbe Municipality neighboring and or shoring Lake Victoria until the determination of the main suit,” ruled His Worship Kintu Simon Zirintusa in favor of Asiimwe’s landlord.
Lawyer for the landlord, Counsel Kenneth Paul Kakande said they are going to determine how much they have spent in the battle against Asiimwe and warned police to vacate the proprietor’s property it had taken over ever since the scandal started.
”The tenant who made attempts to take over by force the property that doesn’t belong to him has today lost two applications, one he brought against my client and another one we filed against him, and court has awarded costs to us, so from here we are going to check how much we have spent in this scandal and am sure it’s not little money Asiimwe will sweat to pay it! vowed Counsel Kakande before he added, ”Police must now vacate proprietor’s property since court has granted him temporary injunction protecting him from any interference stopping him from occupying his property.”
Genesis Of This Matter!
The brief of this saga is that Kabuye on April 3, 2017, rented beach premises at a rate of USD 2400 per month, for a period of five years, ending in May 2021.
READ ALSO: Pictorial: SFC Soldiers Brutalize Journalists For Covering Eviction Of Spenah Beach Boss
However, along the way, Asiimwe and his company Spenah Entertainment allegedly defaulted on rent for a period of six months, which prompted the owner of the property, Kabuye, to seek repossession of the facility.
By that time, Asiimwe had defaulted rent amounting to USD 37,200 being outstanding rent for the period running from December 2019 to May 2021, minus the utility bills outstanding as of that date.
Through his lawyers of Sabiiti & Co. Advocates, decided to grant Asiimwe a rent waiver for the months of April and May, thereby reducing the outstanding bill to USD 8,400, being the unpaid rent for the months of January, February and March of 2020 and part of December 2019.
But, as a considerate landlord, Kabuye, however, instead of taking that option, Asiimwe, using a certificate of NEMA’s approval of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, claimed to own the beach!
Kabuye’s lawyers, therefore, wrote a notice of vacation to Asiimwe and Spenah Beach dated November 12th, 2020, notifying him of the expiry of his tenancy, and the request for vacant possession to the landlord, Kabuye.
He didn’t comply with the notice to vacate the property, along the way Kabuye decided to sell the land on Freehold Register Volume WBU 6465 Folio 9, to a neighboring City businessman, but when he tried to take possession of the property, Asiimwe and his goons blocked him.
So, his lawyers of DROIT Advocates wrote a letter dated September 26th, 2022, to the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), seeking the cancellation of the certificate that the Authority had issued to Spenah Beach to operate the premises.
They also notified NEMA that Asiimwe had earlier claimed that the land under contest belongs to Entebbe Municipal Council which had however refuted the same claims.
The landlord’s lawyers quoted a letter from Entebbe Municipal Council dated September 20th, 2022, signed by the Town Clerk Charles Magumba, refuting Asiimwe’s claims that the land housing Spenah Beach belongs to Entebbe Municipal Council.
After critically observing the evidence of ownership of the land and in consideration of the letter from Entebbe Municipal Council denouncing any claims on the property, NEMA consequently canceled certificate No. NEMA/EIA/15155 that had been issued to Spenah Beach.
Earlier on, Entebbe Municipal Council had written a letter dated September 19th, 2022 to the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), canceling and recalling a letter the Municipality had written to NWSC authorizing them to install water at Spenah Beach, a copy of which landlord’s lawyers had shared with NEMA.
When Asiimwe failed to comply with all avenues to vacate the property, the landlord’s lawyers decided to seek help and protection from the Uganda police, in a bid to forcefully evict Spenah Beach.
So, on October 5th, 2020, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth Ochola, in a letter dated October 5th, 2022, signed on his behalf by Twaruhukwa Erasmus, directed the Commandant Aviation Police, Entebbe, to forcefully evict Spenah Beach and hand over the property to the landlord which was never effected until Kabuye workers forcefully threw Asiimwe out of the premises on 14th October 2022 amidst violence ignited by Special Forces Command (SFC) soldiers who beat up not only Kabuye workers but also journalists who were found covering the eviction.
Meanwhile, after the above, Asiimwe run to court with the hope that he could be shielded to go back inside the beach which High Court (Land Division) trashed yesterday 21st October 2022.
