Real estate firm Akright files for bankruptcy

The future of Akright Projects Limited is up in the air after it filed for bankruptcy amid piling debts, Kikubolane has learnt.

According to the public notice filed in the print media, the notice for bankruptcy of Akright Projects Limited, which is owned by Anatoli Kamugisha, was filed with the High Court of Kampala about two months ago on March 16, 2023.

“Take notice that on the 16th day of March, 2023, a petition for bankruptcy in respect to Mr. Anatoli Kamugisha of Akright Projects Limited was lodged in the High Court of Uganda (Civil Division) at Kampala,” the public notice published in Uganda’s newspapers reads in part.

Under the law, bankruptcy happens when a person is not able to pay up all his/her debts. The bankruptcy notice, which was signed by Kamugisha’s lawyer Rose Rukanyagira, means the company is unable to pay its debts.

There are two ways in which a person can become bankrupt; a person can ask court to be declared bankrupt and his creditors can ask court to declare him bankrupt.

This means that if when the bankruptcy order is given and Akright is declared bankrupt, court will go ahead and appoint someone called an “official receiver” .

The official receiver is a person appointed by court to look after the property (estate) of the person declared bankrupt until the debts are paid off.

The filing for bankruptcy marks a climax of the financial troubles for Anatoli Kamugisha, who became a real estate expert in Uganda for close to 20 years from 1999.

Key among the challenges was when Akright borrowed money to buy land and develop various estates. However, some of them had encumbrances and he ended up being dragged to court where he lost out a lot of money in compensations.

For instance, Akright borrowed funds from Shelter Afrique, Nairobi and developed the Namugongo real estate project only to be told by the Uganda Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) that some houses were to be demolished to pave way for erecting power transmission lines.

“We asked to be compensated but UETCL said it would only pay for the houses which will be broken down, claiming that their project had been approved before ours,” he explained in an earlier interview.
He added: “When bankers had of the conflict, they recalled the loan immediately saying we didn’t do a thorough due diligence. The Shs500-million compensation from UETCL was not enough to pay back the entire loan so the bank sold property and this was a big blow to Akright.”

In 2022, the High Court Land Division in Kampala ordered the cancellation of land measuring 20.5 acres that renowned property dealer, Akright Projects Limited, acquired fraudulently.

In a September 23 judgment, Justice John Eudes Keitirima held that Akright and Mr Amans Mutebi bought land in acres but later found out that the same land located in Kitende-Wakiso District was in hectares and never took efforts to lawfully purchase the excess land.