A former employee of Crane Bank Limited (CBL) Shakil Pathan Ismail has successfully applied for a court order directing Bank of Uganda (BoU), a garnishee, to pay Shs80 million that DFCU Bank owes him as earlier directed by court in mid-January.

The order to force BoU transfer the said money from DFCU Bank account (debtor) and pay the plaintiff was okayed by Her Worship Flavia Nabakooza on May 22, 2019 and arises out of civil suit No.236 of 2017 in which Mr Ismail sued CBL for unlawfully blocking/deducting the money from his salary account (Shs62 million), general damages (Shs20 million), exemplary damages, interest and costs of this suit.

The deducted money attracts 21 percent interest per annum from April 2016 till full payment is made while general damages attract interest of 6 percent per annum from the judgement date of January 15, 2019, as ruled by Justice David Wangutusi of the Commercial Court Division.

Ismail won the case, having sued CBL but DFCU Bank which took over CBL on January 25, 2017 has not paid the money as ruled by court. He claimed CBL ducted his money from his account without authorisation from March 2015 to Feb 2016.

However failure by DFCU Bank to pay the money forced Ismail to drag BoU, the regulator of the banking industry, to court through his attorney Ulfat Ali Pirzada. Court has set June 4, 2019 as date BoU should appear and argue against the order requiring it to transfer the stated money from DFCU Bank’s account in the central bank to Mr. Ismail’s account.

Ismail (Plaintiff) was earning a monthly salary of US$2200 (about Shs7.9 million at rate of Shs3, 600 per USD). He claimed CBL unlawfully blocked his account and thereafter made multiple deductions totaling to Shs 62 million which sum has never been remitted to him by DFCU Bank.

As a recap, on October 20, 2016, BoU in exercise of its powers as the Central Bank under the Financial Institutions Act No. 2 of 2004 took over the management of CBL on the basis that it was significantly undercapitalized as defined by law and placed it under receivership.

By way of a purchase of assets and assumption of liabilities agreement dated January 25, 2017, DFCU Bank as buyer took over some of the assets and liabilities of CBL (In Receivership) from the receiver BoU. DFCU Bank was assigned CBL’s rights and liabilities under all its existing employment contracts subject to certain exclusion clauses.

According to the agreement Schedule 3 Clause 2; terminal benefits and all employment dues of Employees terminated by DFCU Bank within two months from the completion date are listed as excluded liabilities.

Clause 5.3 provides for employee matters. It states that;

“The Receiver shall indemnify the Buyer against all liabilities to an employee arising out of the employment of an employee during the period prior to and ending on the completion date, including arrears of wages or salaries, overtime payments and accrued leave.”

The Plaintiff was one of the employees of CBL whose employment contract was assigned to DFCU Bank. The Plaintiff’s employment was terminated by DFCU Bank. It is the Plaintiff’s claim that despite the termination of his employment no settlement regarding the deductions on his salary account has been made thus he filed this suit seeking recovery of the same.

Denying liability DFCU Bank argued that it was not a successor in title to CBL but only acquired some of its assets and liabilities in January 2017. That the liabilities of CBL were not known to DFCU Bank BoU the Statutory Receiver of CBL as January 25, 2017.

It was DFCU Bank’s claim that the liability within CBL books was only presented to the it at the time when Mr Ismail was leaving its’s employment and that its termination of the Mr Ismail’s contract did not pass on to it a liability that was within CBL’s books. Justice David Wangutusi however quashed DFCU Bank’s arguments and awarded Ismail the money even though not all his request were accepted by the judge.

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U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced her resignation, putting an end to months of speculation over her future because of her handling of Brexit.

“It is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country to have a new prime minister,” May told reporters. She said she will be resigning on June 7.

“It is a matter of deep regret that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” May added. “My successor will have to find a consensus. Consensus will only be possible if those on both sides of the debate compromise.”

Toward the end of her speech, May’s voice cracked and she appeared on the verge of tears, adding: “It’s been the honor of my life to serve the country I love.”

An election within the Conservative Party now will commence to determine who takes over as party leader. That person also will become prime minister, as the Conservatives are still the largest party in the House of Commons despite months of infighting.

May’s authority has looked increasingly shaky in recent months. Her Brexit deal, which she spent the better part of three years negotiating and re-negotiating, has been rejected by lawmakers three times this year. She previously said she’d would resign if her Brexit deal was passed, but now she’s bowing to pressure from lawmakers within her own party to resign before a deal is again put up for a vote.

A speech on Wednesday in which May unveiled a new plan to get her Brexit deal through Parliament included a vote for lawmakers on “on whether the deal should be subject to a referendum.”

This proved to be deeply unpopular with Brexit-supporting members of her own party, including MP Boris Johnson, who said on Tuesday that while he’d previously backed May’s deal with “great reluctance,” he couldn’t support her new plan.

Johnson announced his intention to run for prime minister once May steps down. Others expected to run include Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Matt Hancock. Whoever assumes control still must resolve key issues around Brexit.

The U.K. is set to leave the EU on Oct. 31, but the country’s political future has never looked more uncertain.

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President, Yoweri Museveni, has left for South Africa ahead of President-elect, Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration that takes place tomorrow.

Ramaphosa will tomorrow be inaugurated as South Africa’s sixth democratically elected President and take charge of the highest office in the land.

The President-elect is expected to take his oath of office on Saturday as part of the swearing-in ceremony that will be performed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

The President-elect will then proceed to sign the swearing-in certificate at the ceremony to be attended by several imminent persons and thousands of South Africans at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the capital.

In his journey leading up to the inauguration, Ramaphosa was elected unopposed in the National Assembly after he was nominated by the African National Congress (ANC).

He was elected to fill the top post at the first sitting of a newly constituted Parliament comprising the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

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Seven-year old Ugandan rapper, Patrick Senyonjo, aka Fresh Kid, has finally been unveiled At Kampala Parents School following MoU with Ruparelia Foundation.
The musician thanked the Ruparelia family for the opportunity as he promised to study as he develops his music career.

In Mid-April, Sudhir Ruparelia’s family has gave the young musician scholarship at Kampala Parents School.
Rajiv Ruparelia, the Managing Director Crane Management Services, said then the award of the scholarship to Fresh kid was in line with Ruparelia Foundation and but would also boost the young man’s education path.

“I was moved by his ambition being only seven years old. I would love to see him become a guide and inspiration to many young people out there hence, Ruparelia Foundation is presenting this young man with a full scholarship from the Ruparelia Foundation to go to Kampala Parents School,” Rajiv said then.

Fresh Kid’s promising career almost ground to a halt when State Minister for Youth & Children Affairs Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi ordered him to stop singing and return to school but should later soften, allowing the musician to have a special timetable for his music.

At Kampala Parents, a day school, Fresh Kid has a chance to pursue his music career and study in one of the best schools in the country, something that his underprivileged background wouldn’t have allowed him, if his talent hadn’t opened the doors.

Fresh Kid was recently nominated in the 2019 Carolina Music Video Awards. The rapper earned his nomination in the category of the best video for the month of April 2019. His song entitled ‘Bambi’ that displayed the ghetto livelihood in its video helped him get the nod.

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