The Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction stopping I&M Bank from recovering Shs 10. 3 billion from businessman Haruna Sentongo for defaulting on his debt. The injunction will last four months until Sentongo’s appeal against the bank concludes.
Last month, the Court of Appeal dismissed an application by Sentongo to stop the bank from recovering its money.
In the ruling, the court also ordered Ssentongo to pay 12.5% per annum as interest on the shs10.3 billion debt since January 22, 2019, the date of filing of the suit.
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The bank started making plans to recover its money and advertised some of Sentongo’s properties in the media.
However, the businessman ran to the Supreme Court seeking to halt the process, and, in a ruling delivered yesterday, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire handed Sentongo some respite.
She restrained the bank and its agents from “selling, transferring, evicting, or interfering in any way with Sentongo’s properties until the main application is heard.”
“While the respondent (I&M Bank) has argued that the applicant (Sentongo) previously to comply with court orders, such non-compliance is not a decisive factor in determining the grant of relief. the purpose of the stay order is to maintain the status quo and to protect the right of appeal ensuring that an appeal is not rendered nugatory by prematurely disposing of the property in the judgement,” Bamugemereire ruled.
