Legal & JusticeThe Big Story

Court orders businessman Karim Hirji’s Imperial Royale Hotel to Refund UGX 5.05 billion and pay UGX 800 million in damages for breach of CHOGM contract Court of Appeal upholds High Court decision that hotel failed to meet its obligations to host Commonwealth delegates during CHOGM 2007.

A photo collage of businessman Karim Hirji, proprietor of Imperial Royale Hotel and Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka. The Attorney General's office sued the hotel in the Commercial Division of the High Court, seeking refund of the unutilized funds, and the case has been ongoing since 2009.

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 pay UGX 800 million in general damages, for what judges described as a fundamental breach of contract tied to preparations for the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). In a unanimous ruling delivered on November 4, 2025, justices Moses Kazibwe Kawumi, Irene Mulyagonja, and Oscar John Kihika dismissed the hotel’s appeal in its entirety, bringing to a close one of the most enduring and controversial legal battles from Uganda’s…

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About the Author

Paul Murungi is a Ugandan Business Journalist with extensive financial journalism training from institutions in South Africa, London (UK), Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda. His coverage focuses on groundbreaking stories across the East African region with a focus on ICT, Energy, Oil and Gas, Mining, Companies, Capital and Financial markets, and the General Economy.

His body of work has contributed to policy change in private and public companies.

Paul has so far won five continental awards at the Sanlam Group Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism in Johannesburg, South Africa, and several Uganda national journalism awards for his articles on business and technology at the ACME Awards.

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