Court orders Jomayi Property to wind up over Shs 868m debt

Jomayi Property Consultants Ltd, once Uganda’s most prominent real estate leader has been sent into liquidation after being declared insolvent by the High court.

The court order to wind up comes after NC bank failed to recover Shs 868 million from Jomayi. It all started in 2018, when John Baptist Ssemwogerere secured a loan from NC Bank Uganda Limited for Value Trading Stores Limited after mortgaging his land; Busiro Block 410 Plot 20 located at Ssisa, Wakiso district.

The borrower defaulted on payment obligations, and the bank issued a notice of sale of the mortgaged property by public auction or private treaty. Jomayi Property Consultants Ltd, owned by Joseph Yiga Magandazi agreed with NC Bank to purchase a parcel of the land measuring 50.2 acres at Shs 1.506 billion out of Block 410.

Six instalments of Shs 251 million each were agreed and any unpaid installment would attract interest at the prevailing prime lending rate at the time of 21.5 per cent from the date when the amount became due to payment in full.

It is said that Jomayi failed to honour the agreed payment schedule and in 2018, the petitioner filed a suit in the High court for the recovery of a sum of Shs 1.165 billion, being the unpaid balance on the purchase price of the land. The two parties entered a consent judgment.

A consent judgment was entered by the two parties, and it was agreed that Jomayi pay NC bank a sum of Shs 925,250,000 in 10 monthly instalments. Following the company’s default in the payment of the installments, the outstanding amount of Shs 868,250,000 immediately became due and payable to the petitioner.

Jomayi then made some payments to NC but did not fully complete any of the installments. As a result on January 2020, NC served a statutory demand on Jomayi to pay the sum of Shs 868,250,000 within 20 days of the date of service, or insolvency proceedings would be commenced against it.

“From the above, therefore, this court is satisfied that the respondent is indebted to the petitioner and was unable to pay its debts,” the High court ruled. 

Court has also ordered costs that the respondent (Jomayi) pay costs to the petitioner, which costs would be got from the liquidation of the company. 

In 2016, some properties including Yiga Chambers which housed the company’s headquarters, as well as land in Nalumunye in Wakiso district were put up for sale along with a stone quarry in Mukono district to recover a loan Jomayi had gotten from another commercial bank