Complainants in city hotel case fault judge

Two complainants in a case in which the National Building Review Board (NBRB) was fined Shs50m for illegally stopping the construction of a hotel in Nakasero, Kampala, have criticised the presiding judge for not critically looking at evidence on record.

Mr Caleb Kakuyo and Ms Doreen Rwambuya through their lawyers, BKA Advocates, contend that Justice Musa Ssekaana’s July 7 decision ignored the supplementary evidence presented by the NBRB.

“The High Court appears to have disregarded completely the above supplementary affidavit that clearly confirmed that a complaint to the NBRB was made by way of an appeal under Section 37 of the Act. The judge did not consider and/or otherwise refer to the NBRB supplementary in any of his findings,” the reaction by the complainants reads in part.

The duo said the decision strips the wider statutory mandate of the NBRB as a government national regulator and enforcer of the building control standards.

“Its (NBRB) enforcement powers have been cut back and this includes its powers to monitor building operators and to oversee, inspect and monitor the operations of the building committee. Enforcement of urban planning laws by courts is critical in ensuring that commercial building projects are approved and implemented in accordance with the building standards…” the response further read.

Ruling

In his ruling, Justice Ssekaana held that NBRB abused its office by using its high-handedness to halt the construction of Hilton Hotel, Kampala, without first according the owner a fair hearing.

“The failure of the respondent (NBRB) to summon the applicant (Twed Property Development Ltd) before making the report to State House Anti-Corruption Unit was a breach of rules of fairness. In addition, the order to stop building operations was made without a fair hearing of the applicant,” ruled Justice Ssekaana.

But Mr Kakuyo and Ms Rwambuya, who were the complainants in the matter, argue that the developer was invited to attend a number of meetings called by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the NBRB but allegedly chose not to attend.

Twed Property Development had claimed that the project worth more than $95m, was incurring daily costs of about Shs100m due to the halting of the project that is part of the hotel chain of Hilton World Wide and Resort.

Mr Jameson Karemani, the public relations officer of the Judiciary, said: “Let them (complainants) appeal to a higher court to correct the errors that they think the trial judge may have committed.” 
Daily Monitor was unable to establish whether the complainants had filed an appeal.