The passing of Bulaimu Muwanga Kibirige, affectionately known as BMK, in September 2021 marked the end of an era for one of Uganda’s most illustrious entrepreneurs.
BMK’s journey from humble beginnings in Masaka District to establishing a vast business empire, including the renowned Hotel Africana in Kampala, has been well documented in his memoirs: My Story of Building A Fortune in Africa.
A determined young man from Matanga in Masaka dropped out of school, went into the coffee business, came to Kampala, and started trading in general merchandise, branched into the hotel business before founding the BMK Group.
However, in the years following his demise, the empire he meticulously built has been beleaguered by internal family disputes and protracted legal battles, threatening its very foundation.
It is a familiar sad tale in Uganda. A family patriarch dies, a family wrangles, and the business empire crumbles. It happened to businessman Andrew Kasagga (aka Zzimwe) after he died in 2010. Today, his once-thriving construction firm, Zzimwe Construction, is dead. His properties in Muyenga were sold off.
The estate of the late Godfrey Mabirizi, a city tycoon who died in 2014 is in shambles. Most of his properties were taken over by banks as his family wrangled.
The same fate is knocking at BMK’s door.
Last week, his heir, Ali Muwanga Kibirige, lost a Court of Appeal case that he filed seeking reversal of a lower court decision that gave the bank authority to take over buildings with rental premises at Buziga, for failure to repay a Shs 1.5 billion loan.
Mind you the loan in question, Ali Kibirige claimed, had been acquired fraudulently by his younger brother, Haruna Kalule Muwanga who forged BMK’s signature and mortgaged property titles without the family’s consent.
This ruling effectively granted Yako Bank the authority to proceed with the property’s sale, meaning that BMK’s once vibrant empire was beginning to crumble.
Family wrangles
Yet the Buziga property dispute is but a fragment of the broader familial discord plaguing BMK’s legacy. Another contentious issue involves a matrimonial property situated on Upper Naguru Road in Kampala, valued at approximately Shs 2 billion.
In this instance, Ali Muwanga took legal action against his siblings—Haruna Kalule Muwanga, and Shadia Nabunya Muwanga, and their stepmother, Sophia Bayiga Muwanga.
He alleges that they clandestinely mortgaged the property to Equity Bank Uganda Ltd without his consent or knowledge.
The internal strife and ensuing legal battles have profound implications for the sustainability of BMK’s business conglomerate.
The good thing is that the crown jewel of the business, Hotel Africana, appears to be unaffected by the disputes.
But other assets that once symbolized BMK’s entrepreneurial triumphs are now entangled in disputes, rendering them unproductive and diminishing their market value.
Take the piece of land in Kisenyi (measuring 100 ft by 120 ft) which the family claims is theirs. Kampala businessman John Bosco Muwonge, also claims that it is his land which he bought from the late BMK in 2013. The matter is in court.
Some fear that the public nature of these conflicts may deter potential investors and partners, wary of the instability surrounding the family’s enterprises. In the end, the family stands to lose.
Looked at broadly, the unraveling of BMK’s empire underscores the necessity for clear legal frameworks, transparent communication, and the inclusion of neutral third parties to mediate potential disputes in the aftermath of the death of the family patriarch.
As the Kibirige family navigates this tumultuous period, the hope remains that they can reconcile their differences and restore the integrity and profitability of the enterprises BMK so diligently and painstakingly built.
