State Minister for Gender, Labour, and Social Development (Youth Affairs), Balaam Barugahara, is soon visiting the bulk cash section of his bank.
This follows a directive by the Commercial Court Division of the High Court to the directors of BMK to pay the minister 1.4 billion shillings.
Justice Thomas Ocaya ordered Haruna Muwanga to repay the debt to Barugahara, 45, within a specified period due to his failure to do so within the agreed-upon six months.
Specifics of the case indicate that in July 2021, Muwanga approached Balaam and borrowed 1 billion shillings, payable in six months, by October 30, 2021.
However, according to the judgement delivered on July 31, 2024, Balaam added an additional shs400 million to the original amount, bringing the total to 1.4 billion shillings. Both parties subsequently signed an agreement reflecting this revised amount.
The court noted that Muwanga failed to meet his contractual obligations by not honouring the agreement to repay the debt within the stipulated time frame.
“In this case, the plaintiff (Balaam) would not have brought this matter to court had the defendant (Muwanga) performed his contractual obligation or adhered to the plaintiff’s demands to pay. As such, I award the plaintiff the costs of the suit,” Justice Ocaya said
The court noted that the minister had proven to its satisfaction that he suffered loss and inconvenience due to Muwanga’s failure to repay the money that was remitted to him.
In his defence, Muwanga argued that there were standing orders he had signed to offset the debt. However, the court noted that there was no evidence of such standing orders.
Crumbling empire
A newspaper advertisement in one of the dailies in November 2022 indicated that about four properties belonging to the family of the late businessman Buliamu Muwanga Kibirige, aka BMK, were up for sale because of unpaid debts.
It is not yet clear how much money is being demanded from the family; however, media reports indicated that one of the sons of the late businessman mortgaged some of the family property for a loan of 1 billion shillings. The son allegedly went abroad after securing the loan, which led to some family members seeking help from the land registry.
Businesses belonging to Ugandan businessmen and women are usually challenged after the demise of the sole proprietor.
