Lifting corporate veils as a consequence of corporate dishonest and concealment of the beneficial owner's interests

The case ¹ relates to Ntwatwa Jackson, who had filed and won court proceedings against the Attorney General, Mohammed Hamid Latif, Watuwa Isongoni Mustafa and Aya Investments Uganda Ltd. ² The initial case related to unlawful arrest, illegal detention and battery occasioned on Jackson by the defendants. ³ General damages of UGX 150,000,000 had been granted to Jackson in 2014. ⁴ In an attempt to secure the damages following the judgment, Jackson imposed a garnishee order against the bank account of Aya Investments Uganda Ltd and Mohammed Hamid as judgment debtors. However Mohammed Hamid actioned the transfer of the money in the bank account of Aya Uganda Investments Ltd to that of Aya Flour Mills Single Member Company (hereafter SMC) Ltd, another company in which Hamid exercised beneficial ownership powers. Ultimately the money was instantly shifted to Hamid's personal bank account. Hamid's acts not only rendered Jackson's garnishee order meaningless but they also dimmed any ray of hope for securing justice. These acts formed the basis of the case whose decision resonates concerns around beneficiary interests