Bishop Grivas Musisi of Dunamis Radio and Prayer Palace is reeling after a one Jed Daniel Kabanda fraudulently obtained more than Shs 487 million from him in 2024 after posing as an official from Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
At that time, Musisi had issues with his broadcasting license, and Kabanda claimed he could make everything go away.
He first demanded Shs 255 million, which Musisi paid. Later Kabanda asked for $64,000 (Shs 232 million) to “complete” everything, money that Musisi also paid.
But the problems did not go away and Musisi realised that he had been conned. He sued Kabanda accusing him of breach of trust and fraudulent misrepresentation.
Musisi claimed Kabanda had fraudulently obtained a total of Shs 487 million from them after allegedly presenting himself as an official of the UCC.
They asked court to declare that Kabanda had breached trust, to order him to refund the money, to pay general damages, interest at commercial rates and the costs of the suit.
At the time the suit was filed, Kabanda’s wife, Rita Namalwa was not listed as a defendant.
Fearing that Kabanda might dispose of his property and frustrate any future court judgment, Musisi and Prayer Palace filed a separate application in 2024 seeking attachment before judgment.
They asked court to attach, among other property, a motor vehicle registration number UBP 528U, stock recovered from a cosmetic shop belonging to his wife Namalwa, household items including TV sets, a fridge and sofa sets, and any other property that could be identified.
They also asked court to compel Kabanda to deposit security for costs.
Kabanda’s wife, Namalwa opposed the application, saying that the property targeted for attachment belonged to her and not her husband,
She told court that she was the sole proprietor of Melthan Hair and Cosmetic Shop, that the recovered stock belonged to her, and that the motor vehicle was legally owned by USA Motors Ltd.
She also denied receiving any of the money allegedly defrauded from Musisi and Prayer Palace.
On 4 July 2025, the deputy registrar dismissed Musisi’s application for attachment of Kabanda’s property before judgment.
That ruling prompted Musisi and Prayer Palace to file an appeal before the High Court.
They argued that the registrar had misapplied the law and ignored critical evidence, including police statements allegedly showing that Kabanda used their money to buy the property.
In the appeal, Musisi and Prayer Palace asked court to set aside the registrar’s decision and to allow attachment of the property pending judgment.
They also asked, in the alternative, that the respondents be ordered to furnish security for costs.
They amended their plaint in the main suit to add Namalwa as a defendant, arguing that she was involved in the transactions and benefited from the alleged fraud.
Namalwa’s lawyers raised several preliminary objections.
They argued that the appeal had been filed out of time, that the grounds of appeal were not properly stated in the notice of motion, and that she had been added to the main suit without leave of court.
ISBAT University faces eviction after government cancels its land title
Justice Susan Abinyo who heard Musisi’s appeal rejected the objection that the case was filed late.
She held that although the law provides a seven-day timeline to appeal against a registrar’s decision, time begins to run when proceedings are made available.
She also rejected the claim that the grounds of appeal were not pleaded, finding that the appellants had sufficiently stated their complaint in the notice of motion.
Justice Abinyo re-evaluated the evidence as required of a first appellate court.
She noted that the main suit accuses Kabanda and, later, Namalwa, of fraudulently obtaining Shs 487 million from Musisi and Prayer Palace Ministries.
She also considered Musisi’s claim that Kabanda had gone into hiding after learning that police had preferred charges against him.
On the evidence against Namalwa, Justice Abinyo found that Musisi and Prayer Palace had not convinced court that her conduct was likely to obstruct or delay the execution of a future court decree.
Justice Abinyo added that the burden of proof in civil cases lies on the party alleging wrongdoing and that the Musisi and Prayer Palace had failed to meet that standard against Namalwa.
She agreed with the deputy registrar that a police statement could not amount to an admission on oath or a legal confession capable of proving ownership of property.
“An allegation of fraud and ownership of property acquired through fraud can only be proved conclusively in the main suit and not in an application of this nature,” she ruled.
Justice Abinyo partly allowed the appeal.
She upheld the registrar’s decision as far as Namalwa was concerned and dismissed the appeal against her with costs.
However, she found that Kabanda’s conduct, including allegedly disappearing after learning of criminal charges, was likely to obstruct or delay the execution of a decree.
For that reason, the judge ordered Kabanda to furnish security for costs of Shs50m.
“The appeal is partly allowed as against the 1st respondent, who shall furnish security for costs of Shs 50 million only,” she ruled.
Abinyo declined to rule on whether Namalwa had been properly added to the main suit, saying that issue would be determined during the main trial.
