dfcu Bank has described as fake news reports that it is auctioning Naguru Skyz Hotel, which belongs to top businessman Patrick Bitature.

“dfcu Bank has noted with concern, the circulation of a series of FAKE NEWS posts about dfcu Bank’s purported auction of Naguru Skyz Hotel. These stories are false and we urge our customers and the public to ignore them or, similarly false stories,” the bank tweeted on Thursday, 19 May 2022.

This comes after a Kampala-based auctioneer on Wednesday advertised three prime properties owned by Mr Bitature for sale.

Without divulging details, the auctioneers in the newspaper advert gave a 30-day notice from yesterday to put the properties under the hammer, or private sale, unless the “debtor/mortgagor pays the entire outstanding loan balance and all costs attendant to our clients…”

The advert that appeared in the Monitor on Wednesday.

Properties listed in the advert run in this newspaper on Wednesday that are to be auctioned include Naguru hilltop Skyz Hotel, which offers a bird’s eye view of Kampala, Elizabeth Royal Apartments in the capital’s upscale Kololo neighbourhood, and Moyo Close Apartments in Bukoto.

But lawyers for the businessman dismisses the move as “without legal basis”.

“We wish to inform the general public that the said advert has been issued without any legal basis. It is a malicious advert whose sole purpose is to alarm and cause irreparable damage to our client’s business reputation,” the lawyers noted.

Mr Bitature tweeted on Wednesday that “thank you to all our staff, customers and stakeholders, your support towards Simba Group is heart-warming”.

“I urge you to disregard the fake new [about planned auctioning of the properties]. This attack is intended to cause reputational damage. The laws of Uganda have been upheld and none of our properties [is] for sale,” he wrote.

The dispute, court records show, arose from a 2014 transaction when Vantage Capital provided $10m or Shs36.6b, at the current exchange rate, to Simba Properties Investment Company, the property investment arm of Simba Group.