Prime
Kigongo, partner seek assets deal
Ultimatum. NRM vice chairman and his estranged partner agree to resolve their family dispute over a multi-billion city property before the March 11 deadline given by High Court’s Civil Division.
What you need to know:
Petitioned. Ms Kigongo wants court to dispose of Mosa Courts company and declare that both spouses share the proceeds from the sale.
Kampala. Court has given the NRM vice chairman, Hajji Moses Kigongo and his estranged wife Olive Kigongo, up to March 11 to settle their dispute over the multi-billion Mosa Courts Apartments in the city.
The wrangling couple appeared before Principal Judge Yorokam Bamwine but journalists were locked out of the closed-door proceedings, which were held in the judge’s chambers at the High Court yesterday.
Court sources told Daily Monitor that the two parties sought to be granted March 9, when they would try to resolve the matter. This was in the High Court’s Civil Division.
Justice Bamwine gave the two parties up to March 11 to resolve their dispute amicably and report back to him with a clear report of their position on the matter.
Ms Kigongo, the president of Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, petitioned the High Court’s Civil Division to dispose of Mosa Courts Hotel and declare that both spouses share the proceeds.
Ms Kigongo claims she co-owns Mosa Courts Apartments with Mr Kigongo and that being his wife, she is entitled to 15 per cent shares.
Ms Kigongo holds that in 2011, Hajji Kigongo, the majority shareholder, took drastic and arbitrary steps and removed her from management.
“He took away from me all cheque books, books of accounts and records of the company and employed staff who exclusively report to him. I no longer have access to the records and bank accounts of the company and I am totally excluded from all affairs of the company, including access to its properties like vehicles and telephones,” she states in her affidavit. She concluded that those circumstances prove that the affairs of the company are being conducted in a manner that is oppressive to her as a minority shareholder. She asked court to wind up the company.
Mr Kigongo, however, denies Olive Kigongo’s claims that the two are married and that he chased her away. He insists she deserted her office and her lavish lifestyle was running down the company.
