Judge Tadeo Asiimwe of the High Court rendered a decision last month, concluding that DFCU had committed fraud and illegality by obtaining and transferring the leasehold interests without first obtaining written approval from Meera Investments, the registered owner of the Freehold/Mailo titles and interests.
In addition, the court ordered that DFCU pay Meera Investments UGX2.4 billion, which includes restoring all 48 buildings to rentable status. He said that the properties in issue had no authorized leases, and that the leases in question are thus unlawful and in violation of the law.
As a result, the court directed the commissioner of property registration to promptly revoke 48 leases, lease modifications, and lease extensions that were recorded as encumbrances on Crane Bank's mailo and freehold titles.
In addition, DFCU, its representatives, and employees are prohibited from entering the Crane Bank premises by a permanent injunction that Asiimwe ordered.
Before it could legally and physically take control of the property, the DFCU Bank was required to make sure that the covenant was being followed. Knowing the law, dfcu Bank chose to rely on the receiver (Bank of Uganda) to guarantee the recovery and sale of the reversionary interests. The judge decided that it should have been obvious to the DFCU Bank that its agreements with the Receiver, which purported to contract Meera Investments out of its properties, were not legally binding on Meera Investments as the lessor and could not supersede the rights of Meera Investments as a lessor, which are reserved under the terms of the lease and safeguarded by the Registration of Titles Act (RTA).
But DFC Bank accepted the decision in a letter dated November 3, 2023, stating that it "does not affect the bank's day-to-day operations since the branches in question were vacated in 2020."
The bank further said that "dfcu Bank is also fully indemnified by the Bank of Uganda under the P&A agreement," which forced the Commissioner of Lands Registration to revoke the 48 titles. The bank also ordered dfcu Bank to restore the duplicates, which are now "legally inconsequential," within seven days.
It is important to remember that the plaintiff, Meera Investments Limited, won the litigation against DFCU Bank Limited and the Office of the Commissioner Land Registration. Orders were issued directing the office to revoke leasehold certificates of title and amend the record in accordance with the decree's requirements. For your convenience, a copy of the decree is provided. Given that the court's orders are self-executing and to prevent potential contempt proceedings, this office moved forward and carried out the court's decree to the extent specified by the orders. This included correcting the register and removing the leases that were encumbrances on the Mailo and Freehold certificates of title registered in Meera Investments Limited's names, as well as removing all entries from DFCU Bank Limited's register and white pages identifying it as the owner of the 48 leasehold properties. reads a portion of the Lands Registration Commissioner's letter.
The aim of this request is to request that the 48 duplicate certificates of title that you have in your possession be returned to our office to prevent any potential abuse, since the leasehold titles have been canceled and are no longer legally significant. Please respond to this correspondence within seven days of its receipt," the letter continues.
0 Comments