The Commercial Division of the High Court has ordered Otim Osker, who used to work for Absa Bank Uganda, to pay back Shs 67 million he owes the bank in unpaid loans and credit card debt.
Justice Patience Rubagumya did not buy Otim’s arguments and dismissed his application. She said Otim had no solid defence. He clearly owed the money.
Otim had worked as an Agency Manager in Absa’s Collections and Recoveries Department from 2022 to 2024. While he was there, he took out a staff loan of Shs 61.4 million and racked up Shs 1.7 million on his credit card. He was supposed to repay both through his salary.
But when Otim resigned in September 2024, he apparently stopped making payments. That’s when Absa sued him to get the money back.
Trying to defend himself, Otim asked for a chance to appear in court and contest the suit. He claimed the bank messed up the interest calculations, relied on an unsigned loan agreement, breached his privacy by sharing his financial details with their lawyers, and didn’t insure his loan according to Bank of Uganda’s rules.
He also accused Absa of illegally dipping into his pension.
Absa’s side, led by their collections team leader Timothy Ahumuza, pushed back. They said Otim got and used the loans, and that everything they did to recover the debt was above board. They also pointed out that commercial banks aren’t required by law to insure every loan.
In the end, Justice Rubagumya sided with Absa. She noted Otim never denied taking or using the loan money, and he had even made some payments. She called his arguments about unsigned forms, interest, and insurance “afterthoughts”.
The judge also said it’s not a privacy violation for a bank to share a customer’s information with its lawyers during debt recovery. As for Otim’s resignation and pension complaints, she said those were labour issues for a different forum.
So now, the court has ordered Otim to pay Shs 65.6 million for the loan, Shs 1.9 million for the credit card, 10% annual interest from April 23, 2025, until he pays it all back, plus the court costs.
