Kampala, Uganda – The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by businessman Humphrey Nzeyi challenging the Bank of Uganda’s (BoU) 2012 takeover, sale, and liquidation of the National Bank of Commerce (NBC), ending a legal battle that has lasted more than a decade.
The country’s highest court, sitting in Kampala and presided over by a panel of seven Justices led by Prof. Lillian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza, unanimously ruled that the appeal lacked merit due to jurisdictional errors.
The court found that the original petition was wrongly filed before the Constitutional Court instead of the High Court.
Justice Percy Night Tuhaise, who authored the unanimous decision, was joined on the panel by Justices Mike Chibita, Elizabeth Musoke, Christopher Izama Madrama, Catherine Bamugemereire, and Monica Mugenyi.
Nzeyi, a shareholder and director at NBC, had petitioned the Constitutional Court in 2012, questioning the constitutionality of provisions within the Financial Institutions Act and the BoU’s decision to close and sell NBC to Crane Bank Uganda Limited.
BoU took over NBC on September 27, 2012, citing financial instability and governance failures. Four days later, Crane Bank assumed NBC’s assets and liabilities, a move BoU said was necessary to protect depositors.
Nzeyi, however, argued that the closure denied NBC a fair hearing and amounted to illegal, compulsory deprivation of property. The Constitutional Court dismissed his petition in 2020 in a 4-1 majority decision, with the late Justice Kenneth Kakuru being the lone dissenter.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Nzeyi escalated the matter to the Supreme Court in 2021, raising nine grounds of appeal. He claimed, among other things, that the Constitutional Court erred in its interpretation of Part 9 of the Financial Institutions Act and in finding that NBC was accorded a hearing prior to its closure.
But the Supreme Court dismissed these arguments, ruling that the petition raised no substantial constitutional interpretation issues and therefore should have been filed as a civil suit in the High Court.
“Where the ground of appeal was not specifically on interpretation of the Constitution but rather infringement of constitutional rights, the matter would best be settled through a trial process before a court of competent jurisdiction,” Justice Tuhaise wrote in her lead judgment.
The Justices emphasized that BoU is mandated to regulate financial institutions with the primary goal of protecting depositors’ interests, and any challenge to its decisions must follow the proper legal channels.
Notably, the Supreme Court did not award costs to either party, citing the unique circumstances of the case—including the fact that NBC was wound up years ago.
“Since all the grounds of this appeal have failed, I would dismiss this appeal. Bearing in mind the circumstances of this appeal… each party shall bear its costs,” the court concluded.
The judgment was delivered in open court by Deputy Registrar Elizabeth Akullo Ogwal.
With this ruling, Nzeyi’s quest to overturn the liquidation of NBC has come to a definitive legal end, and the Supreme Court’s guidance underscores the importance of filing constitutional matters in the appropriate judicial forum.
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