Court stops sale of Ethiopian couple’s Kiwatule property over mortgage

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The Commercial Court Division of the High Court has stayed the sale of a disputed matrimonial property in Kiwatule after a woman alleged that her husband mortgaged the house to NCBA Bank without her consent.

Justice Patience Rubagumya halted the sale on April 2 after finding that Negash Tenaye Anteneh had satisfied the court that a stay of execution was necessary.

Court documents indicate that the applicant, Anteneh, married Haile Banteyehun on October 2, 1969 (Ethiopian calendar) in Ethiopia.

Anteneh said they later moved to Uganda and constructed their matrimonial home in 2004 on Kyadondo Block 220, Plot 850 in Kiwatule, where she and her children have lived since it was completed in 2005.

However, trouble arose on October 31, 2025, when the NCBA Bank advertised the property for sale, citing a mortgage arrangement and a consent judgment in Civil Suit number 484 of 2024 against Banteyehun.

Anteneh contends that she never consented to the use of the property as security for any loan and was not aware of the mortgage until November 19, 2025, when a friend alerted her to the impending sale.

She further alleges that Vambeco Enterprises and Banteyehun fraudulently and illegally used the matrimonial home as collateral to secure loans from NCBA Bank.

The court has since intervened, halting the mortgage process pending determination of the dispute.

“The execution of the consent judgment in High Court Civil Suit number 484 of 2024, in as far as it relates to property comprised on Kyadondo block 220 Plot 850 at Kiwatule or LRV3483 Folio3 Block 220 Plot850, is hereby stayed pending determination of High Court Civil number 1482 of 2025,” said Rubagumya.

Anteneh stated that the bank registered a mortgage on the suit property without proper due diligence.

She added that a thorough check would have revealed it is her matrimonial home, her ordinary residence, and requires spousal consent.