At first it was a failure by businessman Peter Kamya to pay a bank loan equivalent to $10m to finance the construction of a hotel in Luzira and also take over another loan earlier secured from Shelter Afrique.
This failure led to the decision by Equity Bank Uganda and Equity Bank Kenya to sell off Simbamanyo House which had been mortgaged when Mr Kamya was procuring the big loan.
Simbamanyo House earned Mr Kamya huge sums of money monthly from the Government as it is the home of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
However, after losing the property which was a monthly cash cow to the Bank that subsequently auctioned it out, Mr Kamya never wanted to let go of the property. The property was bought by real estate mogul Sudhir Ruparelia who has since renamed it to Gender & Labour House to rhyme with the government business for which the building is rented.
Not accepting that the property was taken by the bank and was auctioned after failing to pay the loan, Mr Kamya ran to Court to try to reclaim the House. He still lost in Court where he was slapped with costs.
Both the High Court and Court of Appeal cleared the acquisition of the property by Sudhir’s Meera Investment Ltd after the city tycoon paid Shs18.5b to Equity Bank which had auctioned it in October 2020.
Mr Kamya who also lost Afrique Suites in Mutungo that was also sold off by the bank to Luwaluwa Investments, petitioned President Museveni to intervene in matters that were already decided by Court.
Indeed, at the start of September 2021, the President raised Mr Kamya’s hope by directing Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka to probe into allegations that there was fraud in the way the bank sold off Simbamanyo House and Afrique Suites.
The directive read in part; “Peter Kamya and Dr Margaret Muganwa Kamya have appealed to me seeking for my intervention in the alleged illegal sale of the above-mentioned properties by Equity Bank. They state that their properties were sold when there were cases pending in Court and without a court order. This is to direct that you urgently investigate the matter and render a legal opinion within one week”
Now, in a letter dated October 25 which this website has seen, the President after receiving the Attorney General’s opinion, has written to Mr Kamya and his wife, referring them back to court if they still have issues regarding the loss of their mortgaged properties.
“I have since been advised that the sale was legal, since you had defaulted on payment of the loan and did not deposit 30% of the loan amount as was ordered by the Court. They have further advised that you are at liberty to pursue other remedies in Court” the letter reads in part.
The letter is copied to the Attorney General Mr Kiwanuka and the Governor of Bank of Uganda, Prof Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile.
It is not clear whether Mr Kamya who has not accepted that he lost the properties will head back to Court or will give up since the President has not rendered the support he sought for. He could not be reached for a comment at the time of filing this story.
Sudhir has already spent a lot of money to renovate the former Simbamanyo house to make it kneat to be called the headquarters of the Ministry of Gender.
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