ECOBANK BUSTED! Judge Humiliates Bank Bosses, Loses Shs 1.87Bn Battle After Presenting ‘Shambolic’ Excel Sheets, Fake Evidence in Court, Slapped with Heavy Costs
KAMPALA — In one of the most embarrassing corporate court drubbings of the year, banking giant Ecobank Uganda has been left with egg on its face after the High Court Commercial Division threw out its UGX 1.87 Billion debt claim against a local firm—all because the financial institution failed to produce genuine, system-generated banking records!
Presiding Judge Lady Justice Anna Mugenyi delivered the crushing blow, dismissing the lender’s bloated suit after an independent auditor exposed that the bank relied on suspicious, manually cooked Excel spreadsheets full of glaring errors, missing figures, and scattered narratives rather than authentic core banking data.
To make matters worse for the humiliated lender, the judge slapped Ecobank with the full costs of the lawsuit, leaving the institution nursing massive financial and reputational wounds.
TIME TO PACK UP? SPOTLIGHT FALLS ON MD GRACE MULIISA!
The shocking court debacle has now triggered intense outrage among industry watchers and insiders, with serious questions being asked about the sheer incompetence and chaotic internal controls rocking the tier-one bank.
Right at the center of the brewing storm is Ecobank Uganda’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Grace B. Muliisa (Grace Bonny Muliisa), who took over the steering wheel in September 2021 succeeding Annette Wabunoha Kihuguru.
Critics and frustrated stakeholders are now demanding accountability at the very top:
How can a fully-fledged commercial bank run to court waving suspicious Excel printouts instead of authentic, verifiable core-banking data?
Who is auditing the internal operations, record-keeping, and legal strategy under Muliisa’s watch?
With the bank publicly dragged through the mud for presenting shambolic documents in a multi-billion case, corporate analysts say the court humiliation is a damning verdict on her leadership. Whispers are now growing louder that if Grace Muliisa cannot put her house in order and stop such catastrophic institutional embarrassments, the Board should waste no time in showing her the exit door!
THE GREEDY SHS 1.87BN DEMAND
Ecobank had stormed the Commercial Court demanding a staggering UGX 1.083 Billion plus USD 196,490.56 (approx. UGX 786 Million) from Plan Build Technical Services and its directors, Wandera Dennis Ochwo and Jennipher Nannozi.
The bank claimed it disbursed six loan facilities to the company between 2010 and 2013, alleging the directors refused to clear the balance. Ecobank even slapped an extortionate 25% annual interest on the sum dating back to 2017, demanding heavy damages.
“WE OVERPAID YOU!” — CLIENTS FIGHT BACK
Instead of trembling, Plan Build Technical Services dropped a bombshell counterclaim that turned the entire lawsuit upside down.
The company revealed that while it had indeed borrowed UGX 1.051 Billion, it had diligently paid back an eye-watering UGX 1.653 Billion—meaning they had overpaid the bank by UGX 602 Million (a massive 57.3% above the principal sum)!
Demanding their UGX 602 Million back, the company accused the bank of squeezing them with illegal and excessive interest charges.
THE EXCEL DISASTER: AUDITOR EXPOSES SHAMBOLIC RECORDS
Faced with two completely contradictory stories, both parties agreed to hire an independent forensic auditor to dig into the books and find the truth.
That was when Ecobank’s entire case came crashing down like a pack of cards!
In explosive court cross-examination, the court auditor revealed:
Ecobank dumped mere Excel extracts on his desk rather than authentic, tamper-proof, system-generated bank statements.
The files were littered with wild discrepancies in booking dates, botched transaction entries, and questionable interest calculations.
The bank flatly failed to provide original system records linking the loan accounts to the company’s operational accounts, completely destroying the credibility of the numbers.
JUDGE TEARS ECOBANK APART: “WHERE IS THE PROOF?”
Delivering the final hammer blow, Justice Anna Mugenyi took Ecobank to school on basic banking rules and the law of evidence.
The judge held that as the custodian and originator of the accounts, Ecobank had the primary legal duty to present clear, undeniable, system-tracked loan schedules—not messy documents with scattered narratives missing key figures!
“A bank seeking to recover a debt must provide authentic, system-generated records that enable the court to trace the loan facilities from disbursement to repayment and determine the outstanding balance,” Justice Mugenyi ruled.
TOTAL DISMISSAL & BITTER BILL
Justice Mugenyi ruled that because Ecobank utterly failed to meet the legal burden of proof, its multi-billion-shilling suit stood DISMISSED WITH COSTS.
The court also tossed out the client’s UGX 602M counterclaim due to lack of verifiable authentication from both sides.
Now, instead of pocketing UGX 1.87 Billion in interest and principal, Ecobank walks away empty-handed, publicly discredited, saddled with a hefty legal bill, and facing a leadership crisis as calls mount for Grace Muliisa to be shown the door!
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