Judgment day set for property case against tycoon Kirumira

What you need to know:

  • Court documents indicate that between May 2005 and May 2006, Mr Sendagire mortgaged the school at Shs460 million but he was given Shs280 million and another Shs35 million in installments, which accumulated to Shs315 million.
  • It is alleged that dfcu Bank connived with Mr Kabiito, who acted as the receiver, and Mr Kirumira to declare that the property was residential and undeveloped whereas it was commercial.

Court has set August 29 to deliver a judgment in a case in which businessman Godfrey Kirumira is accused of fraudulently acquiring a property at Kitende in Wakiso District belonging to two school proprietors.

Justice Elizabeth Jane Alividza of the Commercial Division of the High Court will deliver the verdict in a case that pits Mr Stephen Sendagire and wife Gladys Nannyombi, the former proprietors of Bright Future Vocational Senior Secondary School, against Mr Kirumira.

“If no appearance is made on your behalf, by yourself or by your counsel or by someone by law authorised to act for you, the case will be heard in your absence,” reads the court document signed by the deputy registrar, Mr Festo Nsenga.

Mr Kirumira is jointly accused with dfcu Bank and Mr Kabiito Karamagi, a lawyer, of fraudulent sale and acquisition of the school property under caveat and undervaluation.

In 2008, Mr Sendagire and Ms Nannyombi filed the case in the Commercial Court, claiming that the bank sold their school property worth more than Shs1.4 billion to Mr Kirumira at a cost of Shs300 million.

Claim
Court documents indicate that between May 2005 and May 2006, Mr Sendagire mortgaged the school at Shs460 million but he was given Shs280 million and another Shs35 million in installments, which accumulated to Shs315 million.

It is alleged that dfcu Bank connived with Mr Kabiito, who acted as the receiver, and Mr Kirumira to declare that the property was residential and undeveloped whereas it was commercial.

However, Mr Karamagi states that the bank had obtained a valuation report that valued the property at Shs550 million but he was forced to sell it at Shs330 million.
Court heard that a surveyor in the Lands ministry, Ms Lucy Kabenge, oversaw the transfer process of the school property without visiting its physical location.

Mr Kirumira, a property dealer, has since been questioned in regard to purchase of the property under caveat and undervaluing the property.

But in his testimony, he insisted that he bought the land at Shs300 million following a tendering process where his offer was the lowest.