The Commercial Division of the High Court of Uganda has dismissed a USD 400,000 shareholder loan recovery suit filed by businessman and lawyer Charles Odere, ruling that the matter must…
When mega-deals happen, the most visible winners are usually the shareholders who are selling. But in transactions of this scale, there is always a second, less visible layer of immediate…
Miriam Ekirapa Musaali, a distinguished corporate lawyer, governance expert, and Director of Legal and Board Affairs at the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Uganda, has passed on. She has reportedly succumbed…
The past five years have not gone particularly well for Uganda’s billionaire class. Once the undisputed symbols of local enterprise and ambition, several of the country’s most prominent businessmen have…
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision ordering Imperial Royale Hotel, one of Kampala’s flagship luxury hotels, to refund government $1.46 million (about UGX 5.05 billion) and…
On 24 October 2023, the High Court (Land Division) ruled that dfcu Bank was illegally occupying 48 properties that formerly housed the branches of the now-defunct Crane Bank. The properties were leased by Crane Bank from its sister company, Meera Investments. Upon the statutory takeover and sale of Crane Bank’s assets by the Central Bank to dfcu Bank, dfcu proceeded to transfer the properties into its name without the written approval of Meera Investments, as is required by law. Despite dfcu Bank arguing that it had come to transfer and possess the said properties via a statutory transfer under the…
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On October 24th 2023 the High Court in Kampala ruled that dfcu Bank illegally transferred to itself, 48 properties that Crane Bank had leased from Meera Investments before the seizure. Meera belongs to Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia, Crane Bank’s second-largest shareholder at the time. Court has now ordered dfcu to pay UGX2.4 billion to Meera Investments over and above repairing and restoring all the 48 properties into tenantable position. But that’s not all, the Bank of Uganda has since lost the Court battle against the businessman and is now facing hundreds of billions in costs and damages, and the entire transaction…
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Birungyi, Barata and Associates (BBA), a Ugandan tax advisory and tax law firm has been named among Uganda’s top 12 tax law firms and consultancies in the 2024 edition of ITR World Tax⏤ a comprehensive guide to the world’s leading tax firms. The firm is also the only firm in Uganda rated by the ITR World Tax 2024 as an authority on transfer pricing. Transfer pricing, according to Investopedia.com, is “an accounting and taxation practice that allows for pricing transactions internally within businesses and between subsidiaries that operate under common control or ownership. The transfer pricing practice extends to cross-border…
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MSI Global Alliance (MSI), a prestigious leading international association of over 250 independent legal and accounting firms in more than 100 countries, has appointed Isaac Mugerwa, a Senior Partner at MSI’s Ugandan law member firm, Bluebell Legal Advocates as its new MSI Area Representative for Sub-Saharan Africa. As the Africa Area Representative, Isaac will play an important role in facilitating communication, knowledge sharing, and cooperation among MSI member firms operating in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond”. In a 31st August 2023 public statement, Andrew Leck, the MSI Chief Executive Officer, praised Isaac for “playing an active role in the growth of…
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Byenkya, Kihika & Co. Advocates (BK), one of Kampala’s leading Commercial and Corporate law firms, has admitted Agatha Ninsiima as a Partner in the firm’s Commercial and Corporate Advisory practice. She brings with her to BK, over 10 years of experience, especially in foreign direct investment, international trade, banking and finance, energy and corporate advisory law. “We are delighted to welcome Agatha to BK’s Commercial & Corporate Advisory practice. Our clients will benefit from her robust domestic and global corporate and business law background enriched by dual legal training from the UK and Uganda,” reads a statement on the firm’s…
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A London Court of Appeal has ordered dfcu Bank, its holding company, dfcu Limited, as well as dfcu Bank’s former board chairman, Jimmy Mugerwa (now dfcu Limited Chairman), Juma Kisaame and William Sekabembe, the bank’s former Managing Director and Executive Director respectively, to pay shareholders of the former Crane Bank Limited (CBL), ￡1,875,000 (UGX8.8 billion) in court costs. This follows the appellate court’s ruling that there are “serious issues to be tried” in a case the former Crane Bank Limited shareholders⏤ Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia, Jyotsna Ruparelia, Meera Ruparelia, Rajiv Ruparelia, Tom Mugenga and Sheena Ruparelia brought against dfcu Bank, for…
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In yet another legal gimmick, largely perceived to be a delay tactic, to buy him time, against the inevitable, businessman Hamis Kiggundu (Ham) has applied to the Constitutional Court, seeking to overturn, a 6th June 2023 Supreme Court ruling that foiled the businessman’s attempts to avoid repaying billions that he borrowed from Diamond Trust Bank (U) Ltd (DTB-U) and Diamond Trust Bank (K) Ltd (DTB-K). In a 07th of July 2023 application to the Constitutional Court, Ham, together with his two companies, Ham Enterprises Ltd and Kiggs International (U) Ltd, have dragged the two banks and the Attorney General to…
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Following our publication of Uganda’s leading corporate and commercial law firms, CEO East Africa Magazine has gone further to boil it down to the leading individual lawyers. The CEO East Africa’s 2023 Guide to Uganda’s 75 Highly Regarded Business Lawyers list has been distilled from the 2022 Chambers & Partners ratings for Uganda, as well as the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) 1000 and The Legal 500. CEO East Africa Magazine, also consulted some respected names in the legal services industry, for their own insights on who else they thought was worth adding to the list, based on their knowledge…
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The question of what a good legal advisor is or is not is usually a complex one. The general rule of thumb, though, is a good legal advisor- either individual…
The High Court (Commercial Division) Judge, Hon Justice Stephen Mubiru has set aside an arbitral award of USD1,251,916.08 (UGX5,623,025,394.8) and UGX954,372,437.77) awarded to tower companies ATC Uganda Limited and Eaton Towers Uganda Limited against Smile Communications Uganda Limited. The arbitral award, CAD/ ARB/No.06 of 2021 was made on 28th January 2022 in Arbitration Cause No. 0004 of 2021, by Cornelius Henry Mukiibi Sentamu, an arbitrator. Smile Communications, however, challenged the arbitral award in the High Court on the grounds that among others, “there are errors apparent on the face of the record; it is contrary to public policy; it was…
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