President Yoweri Museveni has asked Peter Kamya, the former owner of Simbamanyo House (now Gender & Labour House) to seek court redress after he was advised that the sale of his two properties Simbamanyo House and Afrique Suites by Equity bank were done in accordance with the law.

In his letter dated October 25, 2021, Museveni indicated that he had received an advisory from the Governor of the Bank of Uganda (BoU) Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile and Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka that the sale was legal and therefore he could not intervene in the matter.

“Following receipt of your complaint to me about the illegal sale of your properties by Equity Bank, I directed the Attorney General and the Governor Bank of Uganda to investigate the complaint and report back,” Museveni said.

The President further noted, “I have since been advised that the sale was legal since you had defaulted on payment of the loan and not deposited the 30% of the loan amount that was ordered by Court. They have further advised that you are liberty to pursue other remedies in court,” Museveni 

In September this year, President Museveni directed Mutebile to investigate circumstances under which Equity Bank sold the two properties belonging to Kamya at what he said was a giveaway price.

In his letter to the Governor dated September 3, 2021, Museveni indicated that he had been approached by Kamya and his wife Margaret Muganwa to intervene in regard to the sale of Simbamanyo House and Afrique Suites by the bank.

'They state that whereas Bank of Uganda directed that there should be no foreclosure of mortgaged properties by banks during the COVID-19 pandemic, Equity Bank went ahead and sold their properties at very low prices. That they had even offered to get their own buyers but all their attempts were frustrated,' Museveni said.

In an interview with the New Vision, Kamya on Saturday noted that he was challenging the process under which the bank sold properties.

“My issue was not about the sale of my property but the process the bank took to sell my property. The Bank didn’t sell them according to the Mortgage law.  They should have given me the option of getting a buyer at a fair price,” Kamya said.

He said he would again meet the President and explain his side of the story.

“I wanted the President to intervene and ensure the process is followed. I will go and meet the President and explain to him,” Kamya added.

A preliminary BOU report to the President published by Sunday Vision last month indicated that Kamya did not make any payments for the two loans he acquired from Equity Bank Kenya and Equity Bank Uganda.  The report also indicated that the two properties in question had been foreclosed in March 2017 after the businessman defaulted on the loans.

The report indicated that Kamya instead opted to use courts of law on several occasions to try to hide his loan liability with the two banks.

Kamya dragged Equity Bank Uganda, Equity Bank Kenya, and Bank One of Mauritius seeking orders and a declaration that the $10.5m loans he received in 2017 was illegal and sought orders to cancel the mortgages created thereunder.

On September 7, 2020, Justice Boniface Wamala gave Simbamanyo 30 days to deposit $3.1m (sh11b) which was 30% in order to avert the auction, not his properties.

Kamya, however, failed to pay the money, prompting a bailiff firm CL Risk Management to advertise the properties.

Equity Bank later sold the two properties, Simbamanyo to Meera Investments Limited and Afrique Suites to Luwaluwa Investments.

Attempts by the businessman to challenge the sale failed after the court ruled that, his appeal was incompetent and that the businessman had sworn defective affidavits.