The Supreme Court in Kampala turned chaotic as city tycoon Hamis Kiggundu demanded to be heard in his pending application to recover Shs120 billion from Diamond Trust Bank (DTB).
The session was going on well not until Justice Elizabeth Musoke declined to give a schedule for the hearing of the application filed by Hamis’s lawyer Fred Muwema.
“I was informed by the head of the panel in the main matter that the judgment is ready and it will be delivered on June 13, 2023.” Said the judge
Based on the above, Justice Musoke agreed with DTB lawyers led by Edwin Karugire that the application has already been overtaken by event since during the reconstitution of the panel both sides agreed that everything had been submitted.
“I would advise you to wait for the judgment of the court (full panel decision) which is ready.”
Having heard this, Ham moved out of court in protest and came in and asked the judge to be fair because this matter is not for only one individual but its outcomes affect many people once it comes out negative.
“The conduct of the applicant should be recalled. As lawyers we were not trained to come with hooligans in court, we can’t be intimidated by hooligans.” Lawyer Karugire submitted in court
However, counsel Muwema insisted that being a member of Court he will use all the available means to meet the head of the panel hearing the main case to have judgment of the matter postponed so as to fix time for this crucial application.
“Being that I didn’t talk about the application the previous time we appeared in court, it doesn’t mean that I abandoned it. We may have a weak case but we need to have our day in court.” Muwema added.
However, Ham expressed worry that this matter has gone too far to the extent that he is now under fear of what could happen to him as a result of this case.
All this happened under tight security deployment at court premises by both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel.
Next week, the panel consisting of Chief Justice Alfonso Owiny-Dollo, Percy Night Tuhaise, Faith Mwondha and Stephen Musota will deliver their judgment in this Ham – DTB matter which kicked off more than two years back from High court Commercial Division, it went to Principal Judge Flavian Zeija, Court of Appeal up to Supreme Court.