FRAUD! City lawyer Mugenyi cornered, set to lose billions
Yesero Mugenyi
FRAUD! City lawyer Mugenyi cornered, set to lose billion
By our reporter
The city lawyer in the 41-years property grabbing scheme, Yesero Mugenyi is bound to lose billions of shillings after the High Court in Kampala (Land Division) dismissing an application MA No.415 of 2022 (arising from MA No.1403 of 2022 & CS No. 87 of 2005 that was meant to buy time.
The appeal was filed by Yesero Mugenyi and S & M Holdings Ltd against Abdu Nassar whose property was fraudulently grabbed and his people denied access for 42 years. The above two parties may end up paying the money they collected from the property located along Kololo Hill Drive.
On July 13, 2023, Justice Tadeo Asiimwe dismissed Mugenyi’s application on grounds that there is no right of appeal from an interlocutory order allowing an amendment of the plaint. “Such amendments are allowed by the law at any stage during the trial at the discretion of court. An order granting or rejecting an application for amendment is a discretionary one and therefore any appeal arising from it cannot succeed simply because the Appellate Court might have exercised their discretion differently. The Appellate Court will only interfere with the exercise of discretion in very exceptional circumstances, to prevent miscarriage of Justice. In cases where the question relates only to exercise of discretion (not involving a point of law), leave should generally be refused. It would be obviously absurd to allow an appeal against a decision under a provision designed to limit the right of Appeal. In the instant application, the court exercised its discretion and allowed an application for amendment in MA No. 1403/2022. The decision being a discretionary interlocutory order which does not determine the merits of the case, the same is not appealable and as such leave to appeal cannot be granted……,” reads part of the ruling.
The matter has so far lasted for 18 years in court and previously Mugenyi lost twice miserably in the Court of Appeal under Civil Appeal numbers 239/2015 and Civil application in the Court of Appeal 61/2020.
In the last Court of Appeal, Judgement by Kenneth Kakuru (RIP), was meant to frustrate and block the trial of this case in the High Court. And the Judge ordered that the matter should be extra-judicially heard by the trial judge.
BACKGROUND
Abdu Nassar’s property which he bought in 1979 before the fall of the Amin government was taken over by city lawyer Mugenyi as the former fled into exile in Kenya.
While in exile he contacted his wife, Mariam Nassar to look for a lawyer to assist and evict the encroachers. Mariam met Mugenyi and he accepted instructions in 1981 for a fee of Shs20,000 vide a cheque number 495027 dated May 26, 1981 drawn on Grindleys Bank, Ottoman Branch and asked for the original title of the property which was handed over.
When the lady went back to follow up, Counsel Mugenyi told her that Paulo Muwanga’s soldiers went to his firm and told him to back off the matter since the man he was representing was a “wanted” man.
In 1985, Nasser returned to the country for a month and went to Mugenyi’s law firm to follow up the status of his instructions.
Mugenyi bluntly told him that he was tortured by Muwanga’s soldiers who even confiscated the title.
After Nasser had been told openly to lose interest in the property, he went back abroad. The lawyer embarked on a grand scheme of fraudulently transferring the property into his name. Firstly, some fictitious documents of a non-existent court order of a case that was never heard emerged. The documents indicated that the Departed Asian Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) had a case against Nasser and attached the property for sale.
Secondly, forged documents purporting that the DAPCB was paid an amount totaling Shs4,552,002 in order to stop the sale also surfaced. It was purported that a sum of Shs4,294,342 was paid by bank overdraft to Mulira & Co. Advocates to settle Nassar’s debt with The Departed Asian Property Custodian Board. All this was done without the knowledge and consent of Nasser, Counsel Mugenyi’s client.
It was further purported that Nassar was served by the way of substituted service in Munno newspaper and yet at the time in question, he was in exile in Kenya and Mombasa which is outside the jurisdiction of Uganda. It is further alleged that court issued an ex-parte judgement against Nassar yet he was not indebted to The Departed Asian Property Custodian Board, neither Timothy Kasantamu (auctioneer) nor Mugenyi & Co. Advocates.
Thirdly, there were also documents of another court case Civil Suit 177/1982 in which the lawyer used his own Law firm (Mugenyi & Co. Advocates) to sue his own client to recover the money he had paid to The Departed Asian property custodian board to stop a sale and purportedly got an order to force execution of the property for his client. However, on inquiring whether civil suit number 515/1980 (The Departed Asian Property Custodian Board vs Abdu Nassar) and Civil Suit 177/1982 (Mugenyi & Co. Advocates Vs Abdu Nassar), the then Deputy Registrar Civil Division Jamson Karemani wrote on July 08, 2022 and clarified that the above cases have not been found in any of the existing records and not even in the national archives.
Finally, a stage-managed auction in a one office using Reuben Kanyoro Rwitabaro of T/A Mayfair General Auctioneers Limited was executed and property was allegedly bought by a woman called Regina Kabatabazi (resident of the UK) vide instrument 212113 and the title was consequently transferred into her names on July 2, 1982.
However, using Mugenyi & Co. Advocates, a caveat was issued on the suit property under instrument number 237495 on November 8, 1988 an indication that the purported buyer was a proxy.
Meanwhile, Mugenyi remained the landlord of the property that was then rented by USAID and this is clearly indicated in the agreement and bank account payments. On January 22, 1997, Mugenyi transferred the property vide instrument number 285184 into his name from Regina Kabatabazi and the transfer was described as a gift and this marked the end game of fraudulent grand scheme. It should be noted that throughout the said phases, the master planner was in full control of the property and on top of the whole game plan.
From 1997 – 2003, Mugenyi enjoyed his rights and freedom as a registered proprietor. It was not until 2003, when Nassar officially returned from exile that the property grabbing game was discovered.
Upon confronting him about the transfers of the property, Mugenyi quickly registered a company called S &M Holdings Limited into whose names the title was transferred on October 27, 2003 at a consideration of Shs100m vide instrument 338177.
The available and authentic documents reveal that from the time the property was sold to S & M Holdings Ltd, Mugenyi remained the landlord. He entered several agreements with various tenants as is clearly seen in the agreement with Ethiopian Embassy for 13 years and another company called Medisell (U) from 2009 -2016.
The rent for the property was at all material times paid through the accounts of his law firm; 9030003169232 and 0240007006801 all in Stanbic Bank (Hoima branch).
Court documents also indicate that S & M is a sham company which has never filed returns, never appointed directors and has no company secretary.
The company has no registered address apart from Mugenyi’s address of the law firm that was used as a postal address during registration.
The court papers also show that there was no consideration paid for that same house hence this drives one to a conclusion that Mugenyi still owns the house though it is concealed under S & M Holdings Limited.
OTHER MATTERS
In another development, this is not the first precedent Mugenyi is finding himself in. He recently lost a matter of a similar situation in the supreme court.
In a Civil Application No.20 Of 2004 Between Yesero Mugenyi (Applicant) And Philemon Wandera,Hoima S.S.S. Parents’ Association, Board Of Governors Hoima S.S.S, Hoima S.S.S (Respondents), Mugenyi lost the matter in The Supreme Court Of Uganda Holden At Mengo. This was after he had won in the Court of Appeal. The senior counsel had dragged the respondents to court for reportedly encroaching/trespassing on his purported land. Mugenyi had denied owners access to their school claiming it was advertised and sold to Rubin & Co. Ltd. However, Justice J.N. Mulenga and other Justices of the Supreme Court ruled that Mugenyi pays the owners of the school for the last 35 years since 1989. The matter can be easily followed on (https://ulii.org/akn/ug/judgment/ugsc/2004/30/eng@2004-11-14).
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