KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY: Businessman Patrick Bitature has said he could appeal against the High Court’s Wednesday ruling that okayed the auctioning of his properties.
He said through his lawyers of Muwema and Co. Advocates he was studying the contents of the verdict that was slapped against him by Justice Stephen Mubiru.
Mubiru in his judgement issued via email, argued that it was wrong for Simba Properties to sue Lawyers Robert Kirunda and Noah Shamah Wasige of Kirunda and Wasige Advocates and Bailiff Festus Katerega of Quick Way Auctioneers and Court Bailiff in their individual capacity, yet they were representing Vantage Mezzanine Fund, a South African entity from which Simba acquired a loan.
In Simba’s suit which has now been trashed with costs, they had challenged advertising their properties for auctioning in the newspapers.
The properties up for sale as by the May 18, 2022 advert in various newspapers include; Elizabeth apartments in Kololo, Protea Hotel (Skyz’s Hotel) in Naguru, Moyo Close apartments and Kololo gardens in Kampala.
Vantage seeks to recover USD32,064,075 (about Shs117b) from businessman Bitature and Simba Telecom.
“On the basis of all the foregoing considerations, I found that this application and the underlying suit, were entirely misconceived on account of the fact that they were instituted against agents of a known principal and on ground that the matters placed in issue in the suit are already the subject of a subsisting arbitral process,” ruled Justice Mubiru.
“In the result, I found that a prima facie case had not been established. There were no serious questions of the law and fact to be tried by this court to justify the grant of a temporary injunction. The application was thus dismissed with costs to the respondents and the underlying suit was struck out with costs to the defendants.” the judge further ruled.
But Muwema wondered whether there was an application for review before him Justice Mubiru.
“Isn’t that evidence of outright bias? Did he have to go that far in an application for an injunction? Why determine the main application in application for an injunction, yet the grounds for grant of injunction define the scope of inquiry in such an application,” Muwema said
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