Former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi taken to court over failure to pay rent

Former  Prime Minister, John Patrick Amama Mbabazi to court for failure to pay shs26 million($7507) in rent for his office along Nakasero road in Kampala.

According to former minister and legislator, Yona Kanyomozi the two entered into an unwritten tenancy agreement in 2015 where Mbabazi rented his(Kanyomozi) office space on Plot 29 along Nakasero road and that the monthly rent was $5000 and that prior to occupation, Mbabazi paid six months in advance ending December 2015.

“The defendant(Mbabazi) took possession and occupied the plaintiff’s property from August 1, 2015 and continued to use the same as the head office for Go Forward during the 2015/16 presidential campaigns,” court documents read.

According to Kanyomozi, after the expiry of the six months that he had paid, Mbabazi continued occupying the office space for another four months between January and April 2016 without complying with the terms of the tenancy agreement.

He says that after the first deposit, Mbabazi started becoming uncooperative avoiding him(Kanyomozi) and paying rent in insignificant portions despite demands and reminders by the landlord for full payment.

Court documents show that the former Prime Minister had by October 2021 paid only $39992(approximately shs143.7million), leaving an outstanding balance of $7507(approximately shs26 million).

“To date, the defendant remains in default of rent worth $7507, and all efforts by the plaintiff to have the issue solved have proved futile as the defendant has purposefully denied him an audience,” court documents say.

According to former minister Kanyomozi, there was no written agreement because after taking possession of the office space, Mbabazi became uncooperative and frustrated all efforts of signing the agreement.

Yona Kanyomozi now wants the Commercial Division of the High Court in Kampala to declare that Mbabazi breached the contract he entered for rent of office space along Nakasero road and be ordered to pay $7507(approximately shs26 million) in rent arrears.

The former minister also wants the court to order Mbabazi $20,000 as general damages plus interest from the date of defaulting on payment until when he pays.

Consequently, the court has given Mbabazi 15 days to file his defense in the matter or else the court will proceed with the suit and give judgment in his absence.

Additional Reporting by Nilepost