City businesswoman Ida May Kwesiga has dragged Housing Finance Bank to Court over fraudulent sale of her property at Kyadondo Road Nakasero in Kampala.
Mrs Kwesiga owns Mayflower apartments sitting on an acre of land at Nakasero but she is on the brink of losing her prime property over fraudulent transaction by the Bank.
Mrs Kwesiga entered into an agreement with the Bank in 2013 to develop her property by erecting the apartments.
The Bank approved a loan of $2.7m to Mrs Kwesiga which was to be paid back in 10 years.
Mrs Kwesiga started the construction but midway the project, she ran out of money.
It is at this point that she approached various money lenders in town to finish the project.
City businessman Mr Amdan Khan loaned her $2.8m on top of other people and the project was completed.
Mrs Kwesiga has been paying back her loan to the Bank and so far she had paid back $2.6m!
“We have been paying back$60,000 per month despite the hard economic situations especially last year (2019) and definitely due to the current Covid19 situation, it has been hard to keep paying,” Mrs Kwesiga noted.
Actually in 2019, Mr Khan successfully attached the property and advertised part of it for sale to recover his money ($2.8m).
However, he was stopped by the President who asked him to give the businesswoman time to find a potential buyer and sell off the property at a good market price.
“I received a call from the President stopping me from attaching and selling the property noting that I should give the lady time to find a potential buyer and sell off at a good price,” Mr Khan said.
Turn of events
However, Mrs Kwesiga was shocked to learn of the sale of her property to Balaji Group (EA) Limited at $2.4m!
“This property is worth over $12m! Why would the Bank sell it at just $2.4? Where do they expect me to get the money to pay off the people who owe me money? These Bank people are fraudsters and I can’t allow them to snatch my property just like that,” Mrs Kwesiga said.
On the other hand, Mr Khan wondered how Balaji Group can buy a property which has a number of issues.
“Balaji Group must know that I put caveat on the title of the property and actually the Bank and the lady are still in court; how could they buy such a property without understanding for instance my fate?” he wondered.
The sale by the Bank to Balaji is blanketed with a number of irregularities according to Mrs Kwesiga’s lawyer.
Under the law, a property has to be sold in 30 days from the date of advertising; however, Housing Finance Bank advertised the property on October 15, 2019 and sold it on August 14, 2020 without re-advertising.
What the Bank says
The Public Relations Officer for the Bank Ms Connie Nankya noted that Bank does not discuss their customer’s issues and matters in but acknowledged that the matter is being handled to reach an amicable understanding between both parties.
