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KAMPALA — The Court of Appeal has ordered M/S Muwema & Co. Advocates to provide security of US$100,000 (about Shs370 million) if it is to maintain a stay on further execution of a monetary decree obtained by Downtown Investments Ltd.

The order was issued in M/S Muwema & Co. Advocates v Downtown Investments Ltd, Civil Application No. 0844 of 2026 [2026] UGCA 238, a ruling delivered by Court of Appeal Justice John Mike Musisi on August 11, 2026.

Justice Musisi ordered that execution of the monetary component of the decree—including rent arrears, mesne profits, general damages, interest and costs—be stayed pending the hearing and final determination of Muwema & Co.’s intended appeal.

However, the stay is conditional.

The law firm has one month from the date of the order to either deposit US$100,000 in court or lodge an unconditional bank guarantee of the same amount issued by a reputable commercial bank. Failure to comply will cause the stay to automatically lapse without further reference to the Court.

The Court declined to reverse or interfere with the eviction and repossession of the premises, noting that possession had already passed to Downtown Investments and the issue had therefore been overtaken by events.

“Execution of the monetary component” of the decree was stayed, but the order expressly does not reverse the already implemented orders for vacant possession and eviction.

Dispute over Kololo property:

The dispute stems from a lease entered into between Muwema & Co. Advocates and Downtown Investments Ltd on December 15, 2014, concerning premises on Plot 50, Windsor Crescent, Kololo.

The lease provided the law firm with an option to purchase the property. In August 2021, Muwema & Co. proposed to purchase the premises for US$1.05 million, but Downtown Investments did not accept the offer.

The law firm nevertheless maintained that exercising the option had transformed the relationship from landlord and tenant into that of intending purchaser and vendor.

Downtown Investments, on the other hand, maintained that the proposal was merely an unaccepted offer and that rent continued to accrue.

The disagreement eventually resulted in High Court Civil Suit No. 0621 of 2023.

In its February 20, 2026 judgment, the High Court held that the parties remained in a landlord-tenant relationship because the proposed purchase had not been concluded. It consequently awarded Downtown Investments US$148,300 in rent arrears, US$224,000 in mesne profits, Shs50 million in general damages, together with interest and costs, while also granting vacant possession and the right to evict.

Muwema & Co. subsequently lodged a notice of appeal and sought a stay of execution.

Court finds appeal arguable:

Justice Musisi found that the intended appeal raises substantial questions that warrant consideration by the appellate court.

Among the issues are the legal effect of the purchase option, whether the law firm’s 2021 proposal effectively terminated the tenancy, how subsequent payments should be characterized, and whether the High Court properly awarded mesne profits.

The judge, however, cautioned that the interlocutory application was not the stage to finally determine those questions.

He also found that the law firm had not demonstrated that the ordinary monetary decree would cause irreparable harm, since the sums could potentially be recovered if the appeal succeeds.

The Court was, however, concerned about threatened execution against individual partners’ properties and the continued garnishment of the firm’s operating accounts, finding that such measures could cause harm that a later refund would not fully remedy.

Why Shs370m security?

The Court rejected both sides’ positions on security.

Muwema & Co. had argued that no security should be required because Downtown Investments had already recovered possession of the premises. Downtown Investments, meanwhile, had sought security equivalent to the entire monetary decree.

Justice Musisi found both positions disproportionate.

Instead, he settled on US$100,000, noting that it represents a substantial portion of the US$148,300 rent arrears awarded by the High Court and is close to the US$105,000 commitment fee that Muwema & Co. had proposed when offering to purchase the property for US$1.05 million.

The Court stressed that the security is intended to protect Downtown Investments pending the appeal and does not amount to advance satisfaction of the decree or a determination of the merits of the appeal.

The costs of the Court of Appeal application will abide the outcome of the appeal.

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Members of Parliament have called on government to invest more in disaster preparedness and irrigation than repeated reliance on emergency food relief, which is unsustainable.

MPs made the call following a statement to Parliament by the Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hon. Sam Engola, on the status of disasters and government interventions. Engola presented the statement during the plenary sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, on Wednesday, 12 August 2026.
Engola said government is distributing relief food to 313,987 households in 480 parishes across the nine districts of Karamoja, with each household expected to receive 20kg of maize flour and 10 kg of beans.
The intervention follows acute food insecurity in Karamoja, where approximately 473,000 people are facing crisis-level food insecurity or worse, including 41,000 classified under emergency.

Adjumani District Woman MP, Hon. Jesca Ababiku, said government should prioritise irrigation to protect farmers from recurrent drought, and tasked the Agriculture Ministry to revisit its abandoned irrigation programme in the district.

“The issue of irrigation is key, the Ministry for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries did some site surveys in Adjumani district, five years ago, but nothing has happened. We are one of the worst hit areas with drought that has affected programmes under parish development model,” Ababiku said.

Napak District Woman MP, Hon. Faith Nakut, commended government for taking food directly to parishes but questioned the sustainability of relief interventions.
“Reports indicate that food distributed is finished; sustaining food relief is a difficult job,” Nakut said, adding that “Government has invested Shs45 billion this time. What about the next time. That is why I ask for the support of farmers to grow their crops.”

She also advised that government prepare for possible flooding following the drought saying, “we are battling with drought, what about flooding expected in weeks’ time? I implore government to deploy equipment for desilting. Let water move, otherwise this House will be burdened by many disasters related requests,” said Nakut.

Gulu City Woman MP, Hon. Betty Aol Ocan, called for restoration of government food reserves so as to be disaster prepared.
“We cannot wait for people to die in order to come to their rescue. There used to be silos – big government stores to keep food for help in times of disasters,” she said.

Hon. Francis Adome Lorika (NRM, Moroto Municipality), said about 2,000 households in his constituency have not received food and called for long-term solutions, proposing irrigation and planned resettlement of communities from disaster-prone areas.

Government is meanwhile developing an El-Nino contingency plan amid warnings of possible above the normal rainfall between September and December 2026. The plan will provide for the interventions to be
implemented before, during and after the El-Nino rains, and will cover key sectors including agriculture and food security, works and transport, health, Minister Engola said.

Other interventions, according to Engola include a multi-sectoral dissemination of messages on early El-Nino warnings, ensuring that local governments enforce environmental laws that prevent people from settling in disaster prone areas.

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The Trinity College Nabbingo Old Girls Association (TCNOGA) has launched an ambitious fundraising drive to raise Sh14 billion for the construction of a junior school at Trinity College Nabbingo.

The initiative is aimed at strengthening girls’ education by expanding the institution’s educational facilities and creating an affordable and quality learning environment for young girls.

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Addressing old girls recently, TCNOGA president Marie Solome Nassiwa Lubowa said the association’s long-term vision is to strengthen education for the girl child.

The association has already begun mobilising resources towards the project, with Lubowa revealing that more than Sh8 million has so far been collected.

“We have collected over Sh200m. Some works, such as architectural plan, business plans are done. Since we already have Sh150m on the account, we are already to start,” she said.

The association is seeking financial support from Ugandans, including old students, friends and well-wishers, to move the project forward.

Lubowa said the fundraising campaign targets Sh550 million this year as the association works towards the larger Sh14 billion project.

The fundraising campaign was highlighted during the fourth edition of the Trinity College Nabbingo Old Girls Sports Gala, organised by the alumni association at Uganda Institute of Information and Communication Technology (UICT) in Nakawa, Kampala.

The event brought together old girls, friends and supporters of the school for a day of sports and fundraising.

TCNOGA publicity secretary Harriet Adong Atuyambe said the association was motivated by the resilience and determination of its members.

“Many of our old girls have learnt resilience, hard work and cleanliness,” she said.

Trinity College Nabbingo is one of the oldest schools in the country without a junior school. The proposed project is intended to provide an early foundation for girls while nurturing the values associated with the institution.

“We believe if we impact those values in young girls at an early age, it will be better for our country,” Lubowa said.

The association has appealed to Ugandans across the country to contribute towards the project, arguing that schools play a critical role in shaping children beyond the classroom.

Nsiibirwa called on all Ugandans to value education.

“Schools provide us with space to make friends, quarrel, fight, make up and grow our networks,” she said, while emphasising the importance of building a school that offers quality education.

She added that the project would also create opportunities for girls to participate in extracurricular activities.

The sports gala featured activities including volleyball, cooking, 100-metre races, relays, tug-of-war, sack races, egg races, fill-the-crate, balloon race, dodgeball and the traditional gomesi race.

The organisers hope that the fundraising campaign will attract more support from the Nabbingo old girls’ community, parents, friends and other well-wishers to enable construction of the proposed junior school.

If realised, the school will offer affordable education to young girls from across the globe while contributing to efforts to prepare girls for future leadership and professional opportunities from an early age.