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The High Court has ordered Citibank to attach and remit UGX450 million from Daily Monitor’s bank account to an account in Stanbic Bank in favour of the Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Judiciary Pius Bigirimana.
In January 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier High Court ruling that ordered the Nation Media Group-owned newspaper to pay Bigirimana, UGX450 million as compensatory damages for defaming him in a series of articles published on several dates between 2012 and 2015.
Following the Court of Appeal ruling, the newspaper filed an application for a stay of execution and an interim stay of execution respectively, which were both dismissed by the appellate court.
Bigirimana then by way of notice of motion under Order 23 Rule 1, Order 52 Rules 1,2 and 3 of the Civil Procedure Rules and Sections 64 and 98 of the Civil Procedure Act applied to the High Court for a garnishee order seeking to attach monies held by the newspaper in various banks.
Following Bigirimana’s application, the High Court then issued a garnishee nisi order to the paper’s three bankers- Standard Chartered Bank, Citi bank and Stanbic Bank. A garnishee nisi is a court order served on financial institutions, or any person believed to be in possession of funds of a judgement debtor, compelling them to show cause why they should not pay the monies held on behalf of the judgement debtor to the judgement creditor.
At the garnishee nisi hearing, Citibank divulged that it held enough monies on Daily Monitor’s account to satisfy the court ruling’s orders, upon which the other banks were released.
Despite a counterargument that the High Court could not hear Bigirimana’s attachment application as the newspaper’s stay of execution at the Court of Appeal was still pending, the High Court reminded the newspaper’s lawyers that both the stay of execution and interim stay of execution respectively had been dismissed by the Court of Appeal in a 20th January 2023 ruling.
“In light of the above reasons, I find it untenable to grant the prayers sought by the respondents (Daily Monitor) in their affidavit and submissions and I decline to order so. Since the 2nd garnishee (Citibank) informed court that there are funds sufficient to meet the debt in issue and there is a debt praesenti (at the present time), the garnishee nisi is made absolute,” ordered the High Court Deputy Registrar, Karemani K. Jamson on the 13th of February 2023.
A garnishee order absolute is an order to pay the judgment debt, made to a garnishee (third party). It marks the end of the garnishee proceedings.
Subsequent to the garnishee absolute, the High Court Deputy Registrar, Karemani K. Jamson proceeded to order Citibank to pay Bigirimana.
“The garnishee nisi issued by this court on 23rd January 2023 is hereby made absolute. The sums of 450,000,000/= (Four Hundred Fifty Million Shillings only, held by the 2nd Garnishee Citibank (U) Ltd on UGX Account No. 0100371001 on behalf of the first judgement debtor (Daily Monitor), to be paid to the applicant/judgement creditor (Bigirimana) in fulfilment of the judgement debt in issue,” ordered the Deputy Registrar ordered on the 14th of February 2023.
“It is hereby ordered that the amount payable in this matter be paid to account no. 9030005755572 Stanbic Garden City Branch in the names of Pius Bigirimana the judgement creditor. Any costs involved should be met by the judgement creditor,” the Deputy Registrar further ordered.