RENT SHAME! Kololo’s Lazio Italian Bar & Resto Brutally Evicted
There is a bitter feud between Premier Distilleries Limited and Sharitah Haguma following the eviction of her upscale Lazio Italian Bar and Restaurant from its premises near the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.
Haguma says her business was forcefully removed by Premier Distilleries Limited over alleged unpaid rent arrears of three months, amounting to USD 2,700 per month—a claim she strongly denies. She insists she had operated at the premises for more than five years without defaulting on rent payments until last Sunday, when she says she was illegally evicted.
Haguma says she found the premises vacant when she first took possession and has since invested more than USD 800,000 to develop the high-end bar in one of Kampala’s prime commercial and social areas. She claims all her property was removed without an inventory, leaving 30 staff members unemployed after the bar’s payroll and operational systems were vandalized.
A visit to the premises on Monday this week showed iron sheets being removed from the roof inside the closed building. Rubbish, including remnants of fittings and the bar’s signpost that had been mounted on the gate, had been dumped outside. Haguma said she reported the matter at Jinja Road Police Station but was frustrated by the process and has since lost property worth millions of shillings.
However, lawyer Ssekindi Gonzaga, representing Premier Distilleries Limited, said the landlord never had a tenancy agreement with Lazio Italian Bar but with a company known as Lazo Company Limited, which he says defaulted on rent payments. Gonzaga explained that Premier Distilleries wrote to Lazo Company Limited in January 2025, reminding it of its rental obligations.
He said the company requested time in February 2025 to organize its affairs but failed to pay by March, prompting the landlord to issue a three-month notice in line with the tenancy agreement. Gonzaga further explained that in August 2025, Lazio Italian Bar approached Premier Distilleries seeking to formalize a tenancy agreement. “We even drafted the tenancy agreement, but it was never executed because they did not pay the agreed amount,” he said.
By September, Gonzaga said the bar acknowledged outstanding rent arrears in writing but failed to clear them within five days. Premier Distilleries subsequently informed the bar that it was no longer interested in a tenancy arrangement and asked them to vacate the premises.
When the bar declined to leave, Gonzaga said the landlord sought assistance from the Police Land Protection Unit, following what he described as proper legal procedures. He said the request was cleared by the Regional Police Commander, Kampala Metropolitan East, SSP Jonathan Musinguzi and later approved by the District Security Committee.
Records show that Lazio Italian Bar later filed a complaint with the Inspector General of Police, which temporarily halted the re-entry. However, Gonzaga said subsequent engagements with the IGP’s legal department later cleared Premier Distilleries to reclaim the property.
According to Gonzaga, the official re-entry took place on January 2, 2026, at 8:30 a.m., in the presence of the area Local Council chairperson and a police team. He described the exercise as cordial and said Haguma was given the opportunity to remove her belongings. The operation was reportedly under the command of Regional Police Commander, Kampala Metropolitan East, SSP Jonathan Musinguzi, together with his deputy SP Godfrey Ninsiima.
He said Haguma directed seven trucks to transport her property to her warehouse in Mutundwe and later returned to pick a generator. Gonzaga emphasized that the process followed all legal requirements and that no complaints were raised during the re-entry.
Documents from the Police Land Protection Unit, signed by Commandant James Kusemererwa, outline the police’s role in ensuring a peaceful and lawful re-entry, including verification of tenancy documents, coordination with local council leaders, and protection of the rights of all parties involved.
Correspondence from the Deputy Resident City Commissioner, Shaffic Ali Nsubuga, shows that a fact-finding meeting was held on November 11, 2025, in an attempt to reach an amicable resolution. Representatives from Premier Distilleries Limited, Lazio Italian Bar, the police, district internal security, and local government authorities were reportedly invited and asked to present all relevant documentation concerning the property.
Haguma, however, insists that this is not the correct version of events because the Deputy Resident City Commissioner, Shaffic Ali Nsubuga reportedly played cat and mouse games and thus denied any opportunity to be heard. She says they duly responded and appeared at his office on two occasions.
“On both visits, D/RCC Shaffic asked us to wait for him. Accompanied by my lawyer, we were first requested to wait for over an hour. When we later called him, he advised that the meeting be postponed. We appeared again for a second time and once more found only the secretary present. She contacted him and informed us to wait. We waited for two hours, after which he called back and stated that he was held up and would inform us when he would be available to meet,” Haguma said, and further added that, shortly thereafter, a letter was issued by the Land Protection Unit, Makindye, addressed to the RPC/KMP East.
Consequently, the bar management also wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and a letter dated 6th November 2025 was issued halting any eviction on the grounds that there were ongoing criminal and civil cases against the landlord.
“Despite this, they proceeded to file their complaint, disregarding the fact that the matter was already before court. Furthermore, they later contradicted themselves by issuing another letter dated 23rd December 2025,” Haguma pointed out.
Records further indicate that Ortus Advocates, acting on behalf of Premier Distilleries, formally requested police deployment and outlined the legal basis for the re-entry at Plot 47, Upper Kololo.
Despite the landlord’s insistence that the process was lawful, Haguma maintains that the eviction has left her and her workers in distress. “We built this business from scratch. We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, and now everything has been taken without accountability. Thirty hardworking people are out of jobs.They acted without a court order and failed to conduct or provide any inventory of the items involved,” she said.
Speaking to our reporter, Haguma’s lawyer, Stanley Okecho, described the landlord’s actions as regrettable. “You can’t stampede court. Such actions are very regrettable. The timing of the eviction is suspicious. Why evict during court vacation? We shall pursue the matter further with the relevant authorities,” Okecho said.
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