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Stanchart sells Okello House to State House
Staked. According to documents, Okello House was staked against a request for a loan to start Pioneer Easy Bus. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Standard Chartered took over Okello House after Mr Okello failed to sufficiently service a debt advanced against the property.
- The bank has since reached an understanding to sell it to State House at Shs10.3b.
Kampala. Standard Charted Bank has agreed on terms to sell Okello House to State House at Shs10.3b.
The sale comes on the back of a long running wrangle with businessman Alexander Okello, who lost the property to Standard Chartered after failing to service a loan that had been advanced against the property to Pioneer East Bus.
The property, which currently houses some State House operations, will be bought through a supplementary request that is expected to present to Parliament today.
In an April 2 request to Parliament seen by Daily Monitor, State House is seeking a Shs10.3b supplementary budget to buy the property.
The matter is expected to be discussed today, according to details submitted along the supplementary request.
Last year Standard Charted put up Okello House on sale, saying Mr Okello had failed to sufficiently service his loan obligation despite several reminders.
However, the bank had then indicated that Mr Okello had an outstanding debt obligation in the excess of Shs20b.
The property had been registered under Moyo Hardware, a holding company for some of Mr Okello’s properties, among them Okello and Amamu House, which has since been taken over and sold off by Barclays Bank .
Yesterday Ms Lucy Nakyobe, the State House comptroller, told Daily Monitor they had successfully won the bid to buy the property at a price that had been quoted by Standard Chartered Bank.
“We [State House] were the second bidders [and] the bank gave us the opportunity. We are not the ones who decided the price. What they [Standard Chartered Bank] put up is what we will pay for,” she said.
State House, according to Ms Nakyobe put in a bid to buy the property after Standard Chartered had put it on offer.
Ms Cynthia Mpanga, the Standard Chartered Bank corporate affairs, brand and marketing, yesterday said the bank “was not at liberty to discuss any matter relating to our clients as these are confidential”.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Okello where futile as his known mobile numbers were switched off by press time.
However, last year Mr Okello told Daily Monitor that State House had failed to pay his money on time thus falling behind on his loan obligation.
State House had been renting Mr Okello’s property, which is just adjacent to State House Nakasero.
However, Ms Nakyobe dismissed the allegation, saying State House had been confused on who to pay since Mr Okello and Standard Chartered were claiming ownership of the property.
Mr Okello, according to details seen by Daily Monitor, had secured the loan to help start Pioneer Easy Bus, on the understanding that he becomes a director in the Kampala Metropolitan bus transport company.
However, he said he has since been pushed out of the company after some of the directors connived to “cheat” him.
Pioneer Easy Bus last year declined to discuss the matter, saying some of the new directors were not aware of any deal in that regard.
What Mr Okello told Daily Monitor in May last year
The loan, according to the notice was advanced to Pioneer Easy Bus, the operators of a public bus transport company operating in the Kampala Metropolitan area.
However Mr Okello, in an interview with this newspaper in May last year said he had secured $7m (about Shs25.5b) to start Pioneer Easy Bus on the understanding that he would have full control of the bus operators’ finances and the company would make five of his children directors.
“They came to me with a plan to start a bus company. They only had $1m. They told me they needed money. That is how I staked my property [Okello House] to secure $7m on the understanding that they make five of my children directors in addition to [me] having full control of the company’s accounts,” he said.
