City tycoon Hamis Kiggundu aka Ham has vowed to the supreme courts and higher courts in the region to challenge a decision taken by 3 justices of the court of appeal on Wednesday afternoon.

In October 2020, the Commercial Court Judge Henry Peter Adonyo ordered DTB Uganda to refund all monies deducted from Ham’s accounts in a case involving a 39.7 bn syndicated loan agreement between Uganda and DTB Kenya. 

The banks reportedly deducted the money from Ham Enterprises Ltd and Kiggs International Ltd, without his consent.

However,the Court of Appeal Justices today overturned a commercial court ruling to award Ham 120 billion shillings following an appeal filed by DTB Kenya and Uganda.

The justices instead directed that the matter returns to another Commercial Court Judge for retrial.

They have also ordered Kiggundu to pay costs of the appeal to the two banks represented by Kiryowa Kiwanuka.

However , Ham’s lawyer Fred Muwema told journalists outside the courts that they would not take the ruling lying low but instead proceed to the Supreme Court, East African Court of Justice and Kenyan Courts to challenge the their case.

In a ruling on Wednesday afternoon by 3 justices, it was determined that the commercial court judge Henry Peter Adonyo failed to handle the proceedings based on the law.

They stated that Justice Adonyo errord when he failed to address a written defence by the DTB and instead awarded Kigundu a 120 billion shillings award.

The justices including the Deputy Chief Justice, Richard Buteera and Justices Kenneth Kakuru and Christopher Izama Madrama noted the judgement would only be correct had the defendant failed to file his defence to the suit.

The orders arise from an appeal filed by DTB Kenya and DTB Uganda challenging commercial court compensation order on the grounds that the Judge didn’t address his mind to the evidence on record relating to breach of contract, fraud and statutory issues.

The justices said the judge also erred by saying that DTB Kenya needed the approval of the Bank of Uganda to give loans in Kenya to Ugandan entites.

”The learned trial judge erred in law in finding that it is illegal for a foreign bank using money held on deposit whether in Uganda or outside it to engage in activities such as lending and extending credit facilities to Ugandan entities without authorization of Bank of Uganda.”

According to the evidence before the court, between 2011 and 2016, Kiggundu secured loans worth more than Shillings 120 billion from DTB Uganda and Kenya through Ham Enterprises Ltd and Kiggs International Ltd to finance his real estate business.

However, the banks served Ham with documents indicating that he had failed to service the loans to the tune of Shillings 39 billion in line with their agreement and threatened to take over his collateral.

This prompted him to petition the commercial court, saying that the money withdrawn from his dollar and Shillings accounts was in excess despite paying back his loan in full.

Through his lawyer Fred Muwema, Ham asked the court to strike out the defences of both banks and order them to refund the money illegally withdrawn from his account.