KAMPALA — City businessman Rajini Tailor, a former Buganda Kingdom minister, is facing prison time over unpaid rent arrears totaling UGX 148 million owed to the Muljibhai Madhvani Foundation.
Tailor’s recent detention at Luzira Prison stems from a court decree issued in March 2023, ordering him to pay the outstanding debt, plus costs.
The debt accumulated between 2018 and 2021, after Roliat Estate Agency, where Tailor serves as a director, rented a showroom in the Madhvani Foundation Building but failed to pay rent.
Despite making partial payments, Tailor still owes 39,453 USD.
During an October 25 court session, Tailor’s lawyers argued for his release, citing his good faith efforts to settle the debt and substantial assets as security.
However, lawyers for the Madhvani Group countered that partial payments should not exempt Tailor from the full consequences of non-payment.
Assistant Registrar Okumu Jude Muwone ruled that Tailor’s assets could be used as collateral and ordered a production warrant for him to appear in court.
If Tailor fails to meet his obligations within the agreed timeframe, his assets may be legally attached.
Tailor has downplayed the issue, attributing it to a simple rent dispute.
“Regarding the issue, I would say it is simply a rent dispute. I promised to settle the payments, and I believe the intention was to have me detained. However, I was released after making some payments. I am committed to paying, but as you know, the COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone’s finances.”
