Olive Kigongo appeals decision to sell Mosa Court shares

NRM vice chairman Moses Kigongo’s former partner, Ms Olive Kigongo, has appealed a court order that her 15 per cent shares in the multi-billion Mosa Courts Apartments be purchased by the company itself at a value of Shs1m per share as at the time the petition began.

Justice Stephen Musota also made other orders which include; that the capital of the company shall be reduced accordingly, that respondent’s (Moses) company pays the petitioner (Olive) 15 per cent of the profits made from January 1, 2011 to the date of the judgment and costs to be paid to the petitioner by the respondent’s company. Ms Kigongo did not appeal against these rulings.

Since he couldn’t wind up the company as Ms Kigongo had asked, Justice Musota ordered that Mr Kigongo should buy all of his ex-wife’s shares at Shs1 million per share. “By asking to wind up the company, the petitioner [Ms Kigongo] clearly showed that she is no longer interested in running the company. So, she will have to sell her shares to the respondent,” Justice Musota had earlier ordered while making his final decision to the one-year legal battle in which the two parties failed to negotiate an out-of-court settlement .

Mr Kigongo has 85 per cent shares in the company while Ms Kigongocontrols a 15 per cent stake.

The petition
In her petition, Ms Kigongo stated that in 2011 her husband unfairly removed her from the company board. “[Moses] took away from her all cheque books of account and records of the company and employed staff who exclusively report to him,” the petition partly reads.

Since Mr Kigongo never denied the above claims, Justice Musota agreed that Olive was unfairly treated.

Through his lawyers Fred Muwema and Davis Wesley Tusingwire, Mr Kigongo asked court to dismiss the case. He claimed that his ex-wife’s petition was a domestic misunderstanding disguised as a company matter. He claimed that he threw out Olive after discovering that she was mismanaging the finances of the company, leading to unexplained losses amounting to Shs5.6 billion.

jkigongo@ug.nationmedia.com