The Commercial Court has dismissed the case without allowing the Swedish man an opportunity to present evidence of how Pastor Samuel Kakande stole 1 Billion Shillings from Him.
According to the Investigator, Justice Stephen Mubiru ruled that Gebre Yohanne Guangal had made a mistake while filing the case and so dismissed the matter on that technicality.
The judge stated that since Gebre had filed the case in the name of companies, he ought to have sought a resolution from the same, permitting him to engage the lawyers he used. The Swedish and Kakande were joint shareholders in the said companies.
The Swedish injected the money in the company for which he had sued Kakande for a refund. So, going by the Judge’s opinion, since Kakande was a shareholder in the two companies, Gebre had to sit with the Pastor and make a resolution on behalf of the companies, permitting the White man to engage a lawyer for purposes of suing Kakande!
As fate would have it, the judge directed the Swedish to even reimburse the money which Pastor Samuel Kakande has spent on defense lawyers.
Genesis
The Swedish filed the case seeking refund of money Kakande took from him in 1993 to invest in joint bread making factory and a stone quarry.
Under the deal, Kakande was to provide part of the land belonging to his church at Wandegeya for the construction of the bakery whose trade name was Daily Bread (U) Limited. The Swedish was supposed to buy the requisite machinery.
The Swedish injected the agreed capital into the project and the bakery started rolling off bread. The two also agreed to start another bakery at Luwum Street called Classic Bakery and Takeaway. Still, the Swedish provided the capital and the business started.
The Mzungu was also supposed to buy machinery for the stone quarry and the trucks. The stone quarry would trade under the name DBL Stone Quarry and Concrete Works.
Strange Fire
A few years later, fire razed the bakery at Wandegeya. Before long, Kakande had extended his church to occupy the land which had been set aside to house the bakery.
This prompted the apprehensive Swedish to approach Kakande and asked him why he was building on the land that was supposed to hold the bakery.
The Pastor told the White man to keep his cool. He assured the Swedish that he had land at Bulenga along Mityana. He assured his partner that the bakery would be relocated to Bulenga.
The Swedish waited for Kakande to honor his word, but the Pastor was not forthcoming. This is why the Mzungu resorted to the courts of law to seek justice. Meanwhile, the Swedish had also sued Kakande for converting the truck he had bought and machinery for the stone crushing business.
Defence
The Pastor said he re-entered the land after he waited in vain for the Mzungu to rebuild the bakery and inject more money into the business.
His lawyers argued that that Kakande did not do anything illegal because the law allowed him to re-enter his land upon failure by the person who leased the land to develop it. He denied stealing equipment for the bakery let alone a truck for the stone quarry.
