KAMPALA, UGANDA – The Commercial Division of the High Court has dismissed an application by businessman Patrick Bitature seeking to defend a $13 million (UGX 48 billion) debt owed to Absa Bank.
In a ruling delivered on September 16, Presiding Judge Harriet Grace Magala dismissed the application with costs, citing no triable issues and labeling it an abuse of the court process.
Bitature was sued as the guarantor of $13,568,876 on behalf of Electro-Maxx (U) Ltd, which had entered a consent judgment with Absa Bank. The company paid 13 installments out of the agreed 46 but then sought to set aside the consent judgment and stay the execution, both of which were dismissed by Justice Stephen Mubiru.
Judge Magala ruled, “The applicant (Mr. Bitature) as a director and guarantor of Electro-Maxx (U) Ltd accepted the terms of the consent judgment and partly honored its terms… I find this application an abuse of the court process.”
The court noted that Bitature denied consenting to the guarantee, but the document (consent deed) bore his signature above his name as a guarantor.
The dismissal of Bitature’s application paves the way for Absa Bank to recover the debt from him.
Judge Magala emphasized that Bitature’s actions were dishonest and an attempt to evade payment. “The principle of approbation and reprobation is based on the doctrine of election, which postulates that no party can accept and reject the same instrument and that a person cannot say at one time that a transaction is valid and thereby obtain some advantage, to which he could only be entitled on the footing that it is valid, and then, turn around and say it is void for the purpose of securing some other advantage.”
The court emphasized that Civil Application No. 1184 of 2023 and Civil Suit No. 1190 of 2023 had different questions for determination and that Consent Judgment didn’t affect the bank’s right to claim against Bitature as a guarantor.
This ruling adds to Bitature’s ongoing legal battles, including a $32 million debt dispute with Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership.
The businessman has faced multiple court defeats, including a failed bid to block the auctioning of his prime properties.