Court fines Mukesh $4m.

High court has ruled that businessman Shukla Mukesh and his companies; Shumuk Springs Development Ltd, Springs International Development Hotel Ltd, and Shumuk Financial Services Ltd, have been illegally occupying part of Shumuk House in Kampala. The ruling follows a protracted legal battle involving the late city businessman Bonney Mwebesa Katatumba and Mukesh over ownership of the commercial property formerly known as Blacklines House, located at Plot 2 Colville Street. Alongside the broader ownership dispute, the court also resolved a separate contest involving Joseph Ssempebwa and Peter Lule, who claimed interests in 24 of the 92 condominium units that make up Shumuk House. In his decision, justice Stephen Mubiru, formerly of the commercial division and now resident judge of Mukono, held that both Ssempebwa and Lule have equitable interests that cannot be extinguished. “As regards the twenty-seven (sic) of the ninety-two (92) condominium units that are the subject of this suit, I find that the two agreements for the sale of property…did not in any way affect the rights of the 1st counterclaimant Mr Joseph Ssempebwa…nor the eleven (11) units which the 2nd counterclaimant Mr Peter Lule purchased from the late Bonney Mwebesa Katatumba,” justice Mubiru ruled.