KAMPALA, Uganda: Equity Bank Uganda has once again found itself at the center of financial controversy, as allegations of unauthorized deductions from customers’ accounts resurface. The bank, already notorious for its murky dealings, is now facing intense scrutiny after allegedly emptying the account of senior counsel Friday Roberts Kagoro, a partner at the esteemed law firm, Muwema & Co. Advocates and Solicitors.

Along the way, a cluster of Ugandans started insinuating that we had issues with Equity Bank, most probably some individuals in-there. But we have a `PHD` in how some Ugandans can mysteriously take issues. To this end, even Equity Bank management dragged us before UCC over some stories `against` them. We submitted ours to the same.

Today, Ugandans woke to more ugly news about this same Bank. It is wrapped in a dossier written and submitted via social media, by a respectable veteran sports journalist, Aldrine Nsubuga who, was approached by a victimized Equity Bank customer, Rose Ahebwa. Below, is slightly edited version of Nsubuga Snr`s post. Read on.

The Dossier

Rose Ahebwa walks in my office with red eyes and a ghastly look. In tow is her brother, a one Emma. Their world has sunk under their feet. They are here only because they have nowhere else to go. They have reached the end of the line.

One and a half months ago, they were celebrating as a family but now, the family is about to be split over UGX47M that Equity Bank stole on 18^th December, 2022. When Rose received a customer service call a few days after opening an account with Equity Bank, where she deposited the money in 2^nd week of December, she innocently answered all their questions.

All seemed okay.  A few days later, she was looking into an empty account. She had gone to make a withdraw. The entire UGX47M had gone!  “Sorry mum, you only have 27,000/= on your account” a teller told her. In an instant, her world turned to rubble. This wasn’t her money. It was family money.

The bigger shock however was how the bank, from teller to manager, to a top boss – all avoided to answer her question of; “where did my money go?” She reported the case to police on 19/12/22 [vide Case Ref: SD 44/19/12/2022], a day after the money was stolen but this was against the bank’s advice as they had promised to ‘resolve this internally.’   What has happened since she reported the case is every bank customer nightmare.

At Equity Bank, every manager she has been referred to has been evasive. It’s as though they all fear someone at the top will find out who helped her! Rose never registered for internet banking. Armed with bank statements and other documents which clearly back up her case, she begged for my help.

“I need a voice Aldrine. Please echo my pain. The money is for the family.”  Equity Bank’s manner has been ice cold. Sadistic, even. From top, everyone knows that it is an inside job. The attitude from the chain of command towards Rose has revealed a darker secret within the bank – the big people know. They are complicit. If a customer has not withdrawn money, who has access to their account? The bank.

In Kenya, Equity Bank is one of the biggest, if not the best bank. Not only have they won numerous awards in the industry but they are reputed for their excellence at customer service. Here in Uganda; the numerous cases at central police against Equity Bank, many of which have gone unresolved, project a grim picture. The cartel inside has ensured that customers never get justice. No one will know about it.

Rose has nowhere else to go as blocks have been put at every possible help desk at Equity.  Her example is only a tip of an iceberg. As she shed tears Infront of me, I wondered just what I can do to help. She has engaged a lawyer and Police but who is she? The bank doesn’t care because they know the case will run cold.

UGX47M family savings gone, with a husband demanding an explanation every day for the last one and a half months. This must be hell for any wife. A family is breaking. The thieves at Equity Bank are laughing scornfully. Rose Ahebwa’s case is water tight. No third parties. UGX47M was deposited to open the account and [the same] disappeared after two weeks. Just like that.

We all have bank accounts. It could be any one of us in her position. Should we let Equity Bank continue to act arrogantly and fail to refund Rose Ahebwa’s money? I say no. Let’s save a lady’s marriage. If this happened at Equity Bank Kenya, Rose would have had her money back by now.

If you know any one at Equity Bank, tag them. Tag management. Let them know that we are at them. Ugandans have lately learned how to fight for their rights. And if you have an account with Equity Bank, the writing is on the wall. Your money is not safe.  People, let’s help the lady – it’s Shs47M we are talking about. Family savings.

Equity Bank’s lawyer, Sim Katende, who was heavily involved in the impugned deals, had last week, been sent away on account of having turned up in court without the emails. He then, was tasked to strictly return with them. Katende instead frown upon such clear court directives by now going to the Inspector of Courts. 

The Inspector of Courts (IC), Hon. Justice Rubby Aweri Opio, indeed wrote a calling letter to Justice Mubiru,directing him to surrender the file on the way to suspiciously passing it on to another friendly Judge who would then end up by, most likely, doing as Sudhir and Equity Bank desire. “Under Sections 9 and 11 of the Administration of the Judiciary Act, 2020, I am writing to immediately call for the entire file of [the case] and all other Misc. Applications arising thereunder for our perusal as a matter of urgency,” read the letter in part, whose author is also a Judge of Supreme Court.  

It is this letter, as written by the IC, which Katende would now come back and recklessly wave to the judge in the hope that, he was going to now feel threatened and, actually do as the inspector had desired him to do.But trust Justice Mubiru. He started off by giving Katende a washing down. And then, went on to dismiss the entire application in which Equity and Sudhir had now sought to use to appeal against the production of the impugned emails, plus, the other information relating to the dubious transactions which had transpired between Sudhir and Equity, and which, are relevant to unlock this saga one way or the other. And trust Mubiru further. The dismissal came along with costs. 

Briefly, Equity sold off the two high-end properties erected by Arch Peter Kamya. Yes, Kamya had failed to return the loans which he had borrowed from the bank. But he had not only set in motion, an appeal process against such auction, but the same had been concluded in an irregular and dubious manner. First, what was paraded as a public auction and, Equity actually advertised the same calling for the prospective buyers, instead turned out to be a secret and deceitful deal. Sudhir was contacted secretly by Equity’s lawyer, Sim Katende via email on October 1, 2020 vending the properties. 

Sudhir`s lawyers would respond positively by wiring a deposit of USD1M, out of the USD5M of the purchase price, to the accounts of the lawyers of Equity. This was happening a week to the date which had been clearly given by Equity Bank, to sell the properties under review. Instead of being retained by the bank, USD700,000, out of Sudhir’s USD1M deposit, was paid to a stranger in Ronald Luwangula who was now presented as the buyer of Afrique Suites whereas not. The properties were then dubiously converted to Meera Investments and Luwaluwa Investments Limited in only a matter of hours, and also caveated as so.

But so much for the purchasers and the bank who were having nothing to hide about the impugned deals.These are the data which Justice Mubiru seeks to be produced to court and which, Equity and Sudhir excusably, are unwilling to make known. And so, the ongoing fishy moves of taking the file away from Mubiru.We shall be high up on the radar to capture and relay to the world whatever will be going on around this saga.In the meantime, we understand that Sim Katende is trotting to the Court of Appeal, to again challenge Mubiru`s judgement. Watch this space…

Breaking news on our desk now indicate how the son of Kaguta, following an interface with the Clerk who, we cooperatively know spilled the beans, has sent a missive to the Central Bank boss Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, commanding him to quickly investigate and write a report explaining how Equity Bank managed to sell the two properties dubiously and especially against his orders stopping banks from auctioning customers’ properties during the Covid 19 crisis.

To demonstrate he is not joking, Museveni himself is handling these matters as opposed to occasions when he instructs his aides or ministers to manage matters of this nature. Museveni wrote the unusually short letter and even signed it off.  We aren’t joking, we have the letter itself, let it speak for itself. The no-nonsense Tibuhaburwa in the same breath penned the Attorney General with the same orders.  

Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni summoned the junior Court officer to State House in Nakasero after reading about our stories which raised doubts about the financial capabilities of the Court Clerk, but who, Equity Bank maintains, bought the Hotel at UGX12Bn. The same also reminded him of the letter Arch Peter Kamya, the proprietor of both properties had penned him earlier.  

But the Investigator, contrary to claims by Equity above, is in possession of evidence of Sudhir paying out a total of USD700, 000 to Luwangula, just to act as the buyer of the 3-star Hotel. Sudhir wired the Dollars on October 1^st 2020 to the lawyers of Equity Bank trading as Ssempebwa, Katende and Company Advocates, through their Account in the same financial institution.

The dollars, in point of fact, equaled to USD1m. The balance out of that is said to have been spent as recovery costs for the Simbamannyo building, but the same, Equity Bank ‘innocently’ contends was auctioned on October 8, 2020. Before wiring the money, Sudhir had written to Sim Katende, a lawyer who was acting in these transactions to enquire if the buildings were indeed available for sale, which Sim confirmed and even guaranteed Equity would not sell them to anyone else but to the businessman.

Basing on the communication between the lawyers for the bank and Sudhir, we suspect Equity didn’t receive any bid from any interested buyer apart from transactions with Sudhir and may be his proxy (Luwangula) for purposes of the auction which, to make matters worse, even took place before the due date of October 8, 2020.

That Sudhir moved hurriedly on the same day of October 8, 2020 and removed caveats, which the owner of the properties, Architect Peter Kamya, had placed on the properties to stop altering them, going on to transfer the properties into third parties on the very day, and again placed caveats on them still in the same time, all goes to show that he knew the transactions were not clean at all.

Simply put, things don’t move this quickly at our land office like they moved speedily on this occasion when Sudhir badly wanted to take over the properties which he, of course, took over. May be, Kamya has a reason to smile a little seeing that even the President has intervened.

If our analysis above is right, it would then render all the auction exercise to be a bogus, and by necessary implication, an illegal process. If what our intelligence radars are telling is right, Sudhir is in deep trouble. We have gathered how Luwangula was a bait placed on him to finally catch him at his game of land grabbing.

Contrary to what he thought when he chose to work with Luwangula, according to our informers in State House, the lad carries out some covert operations work for the intelligence services in this country. This explains why Museveni summoned him and not Sudhir yet both are supposed buyers.

But as it now turns out, Luwangula could have somehow been planted on the businessman who innocently paid him thinking he was dealing with any other interested party in making some money for himself. “You could have been there, oh dear, you missed a lot our boy (read Luwangula) revealed some really interesting things about how that man does his things,” our informers reveal.

This is not the first time President Museveni is investigating Sudhir for engaging in dubious property acquisition. The Head of State did so in respect of Plot 8 Nakasero where he ended up chasing the businessman out of the property he had acquired using a Title improvised on Nasser Road.

This property belongs to Gulam Hussein, an Asian based in Canada, but Sudhir exploited his absence to forge a Title which he used to take possession of the same. Gulam Hussein had sold the property at USD12m and was moving to transfer it to the owner when he learned Sudhir had stolen it. Imagine!

The son of Kaguta was alarmed upon learning that Sudhir had expropriated the property just next to where he (President) resides. He sent in Gen Kale Kayihura with a full truck of cops who handcuffed and detained Sudhir’s private body guards before giving the property back to the owner.