Greenland Lawyers Paid Sh300m

OVER sh300m was paid to the lawyers who represented Greenland Investment Limited in a suit filed against it by the Government, reports Juliet Nankinga. High Court sources said lawyers Remmy Kasule, Abdul Katuntu and Faisal Mukasa were awarded sh700m in costs by the High Court after the Government and Greenland Investment agreed to withdraw the case. They, however, received sh300m from the Government. Greenland Investment was one of the companies the Government sued for fraud in the controversial sale of Uganda Commercial Bank in June 1999. The others were Westmont Asia and Greenland Bank Limited. The money was reportedly reduced to about sh300m after the Attorney General challenged the award. The Director of Civil Litigation, Deus Byamugisha, yesterday confirmed the award of sh700m. He referred The New Vision to the Attorney General who he said personally handled the matter. The Attorney General was reported away on his annual leave. However, Byamugisha said the costs were taxed but denied that the money was paid to the lawyers. The lawyers were not available for comment as they were reported to be attending courts. Attorney General Bart Katureebe objected to the award, claiming it was ambiguous since the case had not been heard. But the Principal Judge, Herbert Ntabgoba, overruled the objection and went ahead to award the costs. Recently, the Government and Westmont Asia were in arbitration in UK to resolve the UCB dispute. The court still awaits the outcome of the arbitration. Ends