In Uganda justice has become a fugitive of corruption, abuse of office - Part II

A second example is the gustily acts and behaviour of the Jinja municipality police. A woman well known for her dishonest acts, some of which led to detention in prisons, a fact well known to Jinja police and municipality authorities, broke into the premises of a company and stole or used the company’s equipment in violation of the law.
She has previously been a minority shareholder and director of the company with two other directors and shareholders. The company was owned by two paid up shareholders. The suspect had 15 per cent, the majority shareholder had 50 per cent and the third never paid for his 10 allotted shares, but was appointed by the other two as the director pending his payment of dues obligatory to own the shares allotted to him.

The third shareholder has stolen a lot of money from his employers and their clients and was subject to wide police investigations and had prominently been named in both Monitor and Red Pepper newspapers as a wanted criminal fugitive who was at large.
Before his exposure, he and another lawyer had signed a management contract of five years. The contract which the two drafted provided that they were to run the company for that period and the directors and shareholders would be prohibited from interfering or questioning their business.
The contract stipulated and they agreed that they would be paying Shs5 million per month. Unfortunately, the majority shareholder was involved in an accident and was treated and initially nursed in Europe.

On return, he discovered that both shareholders had committed fraud and carried the business of the company illegally. Before that, the company secretary had advised that because of her illegal acts and conflict of interest, she should sell her 15 per cent shares to the company, the remaining shareholders or to anyone else with consent of the directors and shareholders.
She later kept silent and in the absence of the other directors, set up a kiosk and commenced business which was competing with the company in breach of the law. The company, on the advice of its secretary and lawyers, notified her of the company secretary’s decision asking her to comply with the advice. She refrained from entering the company’s premises or interfering with its business.

While the majority shareholder and the chairman of the company was abroad, she unlawfully chased out of the premises all its employees and illegally replaced them with her own relatives and friends.
The company secretary was directed by the company to take steps and evict her from the premises. Subsequently, the police, municipality officials, expelled employees and the majority shareholders discovered that after she was expelled from the company’s directorship, she secretly and fraudulently found another company. The police was informed of these illegalities and activities of this woman and promised to evict her and return the premises to the company. For a long time the police did nothing.

Eventually, the majority shareholder and his new lawyers informed the police and municipality authorities that they had hired a firm of bailiffs to evict her from the company premises and return the premises and company property to its rightful owners.
The eviction was carried out in broad daylight with senior police and UPDF officers who all witnessed the eviction and formerly informed the town clerk and other stakeholders. During one night, this notorious woman broke into the company premises and burgled its property.
The crime was reported to all concerned in Jinja Municipality and beyond. The town clerk promised that he would not only evict her, but also ask police to prosecute her for trading illegally and stealing company property.

I was so relieved. Two months passed, she was still in illegal occupancy and carrying out illegal and unlicensed business. The town clerk and the police units in Jinja were alerted. To everybody’s utter amazement and disappointment, the police quietly withdrew their promises to either evict her or have her evicted.
Police commissioner Dr Martin Mugume and another officer were horrified by the knowledge that police had totally failed in their mission. However, Dr Mugume in our presence telephoned the DPC of Jinja and pleaded with him to take immediate action in evicting the woman.
Not knowing that I was present, the DPC responded in my hearing that no police in Uganda can touch that woman because she is believed to be the aunt of Gen Kale Kayihura. Mugume called the regional police commander to do what the DPC had feared because of the status of the criminal, but he simply told Mugume, “I know the case, but didn’t you know that she is our boss’s relative?”

Next, I instructed the law firm of Kateera & Kagumire to apply for an interim order prohibiting her from illegally exploiting the business of the company.
They did all they could professionally and the Jinja magistrate had their publication and summarily dismissed it with the reason that since she is in physical possession and the principal of possession is 9/10 of the law, she was entitled to remain in the premises.
Where can any Ugandan citizen go to get justice?

Prof Kanyeihamba is a retired Supreme Court judge. [email protected]